Needs Assessment of Economic Security

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From May through August 2024, Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) engaged in a comprehensive needs assessment. The purpose of the assessment was to determine how DHS can best address the needs of individuals and families living in poverty and promote stability and economic security using Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funds and other flexible funding across the agency. The assessment included collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from community members and service providers.

Read the new report here.

What are the takeaways?

  • Despite a decrease in the overall poverty rate, there remain deep disparities in poverty by demographic groups. Black people, women with children and people with less than a high school diploma experience poverty at twice to three times Allegheny County’s rate.
  • Finding job opportunities was the number one challenge reported by survey respondents seeking employment. Additional barriers to employment include transportation and resumé/application preparation.
  • Workforce participant engagement for those receiving SNAP and TANF (i.e., those with low income, for whom relevant data are available) increased from 2021 to 2022, possibly explained by COVID-related participation extensions. The demand for job readiness/training programs among this population, particularly for SNAP recipients who are female and Black, is expected to increase further as SNAP work requirement waivers expire in 2025.

Community Need Index

Current dataset and related materials

What is the Community Need Index?

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) conducts a Community Need Index (CNI) to identify specific areas that are in greater need, and face larger socioeconomic barriers, relative to others. The newest version of the CNI index ranks neighborhoods by need level by looking at:

  • The percentage of families who live below the poverty line
  • The percentage of unemployed or unattached males
  • The percentage of those aged 25 and up without at least a Bachelor’s degree
  • The percentage of single parent households
  • The percentage of households without internet access
  • Rate of homicide per 100,000 residents
  • Rate of fatal overdoses per 100,000 residents

The researchers used a census tract level to break up the region and assess needs. Census tracts are static, relatively small subdivisions of a county.

How can I view the findings?

An interactive map allows users to view and extract data from the 2024 CNI (which uses 2022 five-year data estimates and totals). The new report focuses on all of Allegheny County, examines changes in need over time, and places emphasis on the connection between race and community need. Earlier reports are linked below.

What are the takeaways?

  • In Allegheny County, we continue to find the highest levels of need in specific sections of the City of Pittsburgh (Hill District, South Hilltop, parts of the West End, Upper East End neighborhoods, Upper Northside) as well as census tracts outside the City of Pittsburgh (Mon Valley, sections of the Allegheny County River Valley, sections of Penn Hills, sections of Wilkinsburg, Stowe-Rocks).
  • There are vast discrepancies between the lowest need communities, which have an average poverty rate of 2%, and the highest need communities, where the average poverty rate is 38%.
  • With few exceptions, census tract-level community need is persistent over time.
  • Only about one-third of Allegheny County’s Black residents live in lower-need communities. For every other racial and ethnic group in the County, the majority of residents live in lower need communities. Black communities in Allegheny County have disproportionately high levels of need, as do a number of racially mixed communities. 
  • Poverty status alone does not account for where various racial and ethnic groups tend to live by level of need; poor Black and Latino families are more likely than other poor families to live in higher need communities. Even Black families above the poverty line are many times more likely than their Asian, White and Latino peers above the poverty line to live in higher need communities.

How is this report used?

The geographic dimensions of community need can help inform many aspects of DHS’s strategic planning and resource allocation decisions, such as decisions on where to locate Family Centers or new after-school programs.

Where can I go for more information?

For more information, you can read previous reports below. Or you can reach out to DHS-Research@alleghenycounty.us with any questions.

 


Previous reports in this series 

Previous datasets in this series

Allegheny County Data Warehouse

Learn more about the Data Warehouse

What is the Allegheny County Data Warehouse?

The Allegheny County Data Warehouse brings together and integrates client and service data from a wide variety of sources both internal and external to the County.

How was the Data Warehouse developed?

The Data Warehouse was created by consolidating publicly-funded human services data (e.g., behavioral health, child welfare, developmental supports, homelessness and aging) and, over time, expanded to include data from other sources. The Data Warehouse was made possible with support from the Human Service Integration Fund, a flexible funding pool created by a coalition of local foundations for the purpose of supporting integration and innovation within DHS.

How does the Data Warehouse support of the work of Allegheny County?

The Data Warehouse was designed primarily to improve services to clients, but also to improve the ability of workers to perform their jobs and to support management decisionmaking; it is also intended to be available as a community resource, making data and information publicly available whenever possible.

Where can I learn more?

  • This overview document describes the development of the Data Warehouse, the County’s data sharing partnerships, and how the data is utilized to support client services and decisionmaking. 

What is the DHS case competition?

Each year, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) hosts a competition for local graduate students that challenges interdisciplinary teams to solve a problem in local government.

What information is available?

Yearly reports, below, describe the case topic and students’ proposed solutions. A short video explains the event.


All reports

  • 2023: Improving outcomes for people involved in an involuntary commitment
  • 2022: Innovating in the Aftershock of COVID-19: A Post-Pandemic Local Government Playbook
  • 2019: Human Service Delivery in the Gig Economy
  • 2018: Emerging Technologies to Address Human Service Problems
  • 2017: Rethinking Human Services Delivery
  • 2016: Improving Systems to Help People with Barriers Gain and Sustain Employment
  • 2015: Making Transportation Work: Creating Access and Ensuring Equity
  • 2014: Pathways to Safe and Affordable Housing for People Involved in the Human Services System
  • 2013: Building a Human Services Workforce for the 21st Century
  • 2012: Addressing Suburban Poverty and Those Affected by It
  • 2011: Reducing Stigma among Individuals with Serious Mental Illness
  • 2010: Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pathways to the Promise
  • 2009: Building the Homewood Children’s Village
  • 2008: Greening DHS
  • 2007: The Future of DHS

Making good, informed decisions about how to allocate limited resources is an ever-evolving process. The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) strives to make the most equitable decisions when allocating scarce resources for individuals and families in need. Housing is a critical resource for which demand far exceeds supply; thus, DHS is dedicated to making sure that those most at need have priority for the housing services that are available. Since 2017, DHS has developed predictive risk models that utilize administrative data to assign a risk score that is used to determine the appropriate course of action. Two of these models were developed to support prioritization of housing resources.

Allegheny Housing Assessment (AHA)

In 2020, DHS launched the Allegheny Housing Assessment (AHA), a decision support tool designed to help prioritize admissions to supportive housing services for individuals or families experiencing homelessness. The AHA forms the infrastructure for DHS’s coordinated entry system for those in a housing crisis.

The tool uses administrative data from Allegheny County’s data warehouse to predict the likelihood of three types of events occurring in a person’s life if they remain unhoused over the next 12 months: 1) a mental health inpatient stay, 2) a jail booking and 3) frequent use (4 or more visits) of hospital emergency rooms.  These events serve as indicators of harm if a person remains unhoused. The AHA assigns a risk score that is used as part of the housing prioritization process; it is far more objective and unbiased than earlier assessment tools and it doesn’t require the time or trauma associated with asking sensitive questions at the time of housing crisis.

Mental Health – Allegheny Housing Assessment (MH-AHA)

After a couple of years of experience with the AHA, DHS leadership realized that a similar tool could help prioritize admissions to residential services for individuals with a diagnosis of serious and persistent mental illness. Using the AHA as a starting point, the team developed the Mental Health – Allegheny Housing Assessment (MH-AHA) and launched it in February 2023.

Similar to the AHA, the MH-AHA utilizes administrative data from Allegheny County’s data warehouse to predict the likelihood of two potential types of adverse events that may occur in an individual’s life if they do not receive adequate support for their MH condition over the next 12 months: 1) a mental health inpatient stay and 2) frequent use [4 or more visits] of hospital emergency departments. These events serve as indicators of harm and are things we would like to prevent. The MH-AHA assigns a risk score that is used as part of the prioritization process. Individuals who are not eligible or who do not receive a risk score likely to lead to a placement in the near future will be introduced to other supportive services options instead of waiting a long time on a waiting list for a placement that might not occur.

By prioritizing those most in need of MH residential services, the MH-AHA will simplify the referral process, decrease uncertainty and reduce wait times. In addition, it will help Allegheny County document unmet MH residential needs created by the gap between limited MH residential resources and the number of high-risk eligible individuals. An external impact evaluation by researchers at Stanford will document progress toward these goals.

Select from the following documents to learn more about the AHA tool:

Select from the following documents to learn more about the MH-AHA:

What is Hello Baby?

New information added September 2023

Hello Baby is designed for parents of new babies in Allegheny County to strengthen families, improve children’s outcomes, and maximize child and family well-being, safety and security. Hello Baby’s tiered prevention model offers a variety of supports designed to meet families’ varied needs and interests through the child’s third year.

How was Hello Baby developed?

Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) undertook an extensive process to develop the Hello Baby prevention strategy. In addition to drawing from decades of experience by DHS leadership, service workers and families, the process included:

  • A review of data and best practices identified in the literature
  • Dozens of individual and group meetings with local service providers, families in the community, social workers, clinical specialists and local, national and international child development experts
  • Two independent, comprehensive reviews by experts in the field

How is Hello Baby being used?

The resulting prevention program has a differentiated approach, with flexible service delivery that is based upon the understanding that each family is unique and has different and varying levels of needs and barriers to support. In addition to self- and community-referral pathways, Hello Baby also uses an innovative and predictive risk model (PRM) that uses integrated data to identify the highest need families eligible for services. Hello Baby includes a universal entry point designed to increase awareness of available support services for all new parents and improve overall engagement rates. It incorporates community level support and proven home visiting techniques, hiring culturally competent staff with lived experiences to support families with moderate to high needs and intensive engagement and service coordination to support families with the highest needs. An evaluation partner has already been selected to ensure that Hello Baby benefits from rapid feedback and learning throughout the implementation.


Related materials

For more information about Hello Baby and to access resources for new parents, visit Hello Baby online.

Recent press coverage of Hello Baby is available here.

Eviction Cases in Allegheny County

Allegheny County Department of Human Services and The Pittsburgh Foundation wanted to learn more about evictions in the region: How many eviction cases are filed each year, and for how much money? How many cases are filed against low-income tenants? And how many cases do tenants win in comparison to landlords? This report describes the available data about landlord–tenant cases in Allegheny County from 2012 to 2019 and the quantitative insights we have been able to learn from it.

In addition to the report, a guide to the evictions process has been developed by the Pennsylvania Housing Alliance to help demystify the steps.

What were the takeaways?

  • Thirteen thousand to 14,000 residential eviction cases are filed each year in Allegheny County.
  • In 2019, the average amount claimed by landlords was $2,029. While the number of cases filed has been fairly stable from year to year, the amount of money claimed increased 35% during the period of the study, closely tracking the increase in median rent of defendants in eviction cases.
  • A disproportionate number of cases are filed against low-income tenants living in publicly subsidized housing.
  • Fewer than 1% of tenants have attorneys in landlord–tenant cases. The number of cases in which landlords are represented by legal counsel is also small but has been rising steadily, from 3% in 2012 to 7% in 2019.
  • Landlords win about 85% of cases. Tenants win around 1.5% of cases, with the remaining cases withdrawn, settled or dismissed.
  • Seventy-three percent of landlord–tenant cases filed are for overdue rent alone, as opposed to lease violations or the term of a lease ending.

Latinx Needs Assessment

The Latinx population of Allegheny County is growing fast. It is important to understand this community’s demographics, geographic locations, and how our social, health and human services systems are and are not meeting their needs so we can strengthen families and advance the health and wellness that are crucial to supporting the local Latinx community.

What is the Latinx needs assessment?

In early 2020 the Latinx community asked Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) to commission a community needs assessment. DHS issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in August 2020, and a review committee selected Metis Associates as the successful proposer. The RFP is available here. Award details and the successful proposal is available here.

The assessment, which was conducted between January and September 2021, was a collaboration between Metis Associates, a research firm from New York; MonWin, an urban planning firm in Pittsburgh; and several community researchers. The assessment includes interviews with community leaders and service providers, focus groups with community members, and a review of public and administrative data sources.

What is the Service Utilization by Latinx Communities Data Brief?

To accompany the findings of the needs assessment, DHS conducted the following analyses to describe Latinx use of human services, publicly funded health services and involvement with the criminal justice system within Allegheny County. The analysis describes participation rates of people identifying as Latinx in 1) family and child services, 2) physical and behavioral health services, 3) aging services, 4) developmental support services, 5) income supports, 6) housing and homeless supports, and 7) criminal and juvenile justice involvement.

Homicides in Allegheny County and Pittsburgh

An analytic report and interactive map describe homicides in our region using data from the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. Focusing on 2016 through 2021, the analysis provides recent and long-term homicide trends as well as comparisons to rates nationally and in other cities. Homicides are just a fraction of gun violence, however, so we also provide data on non-fatal shootings for a more complete picture.

Since gun violence does not affect all geographic locations and populations equally, the analysis describes victim and perpetrator demographics and homicide locations by municipality, neighborhood and census tract. Our research highlights the people and places who are disproportionately impacted by homicide and gun violence in order to inform policy and violence prevention efforts.

What are the key takeaways?

  • Homicide is heavily concentrated in a small number of higher-need communities and overwhelmingly cuts short the lives of young Black men.
  • Both Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh saw increases in homicides from 2019 through 2021. This was after stable or declining trends from 2016 through 2019.
  • Firearms were used in nearly 90% of homicides.
  • Homicides usually occurred close to where victims lived. Nearly 90% of victims were murdered within 10 miles of their home. Females were twice as likely as males to be murdered at their own residence.

How is Allegheny County using this data?

Based on the homicide trends presented in this report and research on best practices, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) is sustainably funding public health approaches to community violence reduction that are rooted in evidence.

What other homicide data is available?

This interactive dashboard provides up-to-date data on homicides in the County and City.


Previous reports about homicide

In October of 2018, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded Allegheny County a Safety and Justice Challenge grant to reduce the population of the Allegheny County Jail by 20%. This series of reports outlines the progress made in the first three years of the project, as well as plans to continue reforms in the criminal justice system, address racial and ethnic disparities and engage community members in this work.

The dashboard below displays information about the race demographics of children involved with the Allegheny County child welfare system. Explore data about stages in the child welfare system and where racial disproportionality occurs. Information includes a flow chart of the system and data on referrals to child welfare, case investigations and foster care placements outside the home. Data is updated yearly when a full year of data is available.

Trouble viewing the dashboard below? You can view it directly here.

Related materials

COVID-19 and Employment of Human Services Clients

This report explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment in Allegheny County. It uses data from Pennsylvania Unemployment Insurance records. We examined the employment, earnings and unemployment benefits of working-age clients of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) from July 2019 through September 2020. This analysis sheds light on how some of Allegheny County’s neediest workers fared in the months preceding and following the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

What are the takeaways?

  • DHS clients have persistent difficulty maintaining work and earning enough money to support themselves. Working-age clients had employment rates between 34 and 38 percent and quarterly earnings around $4,000 prior to the onset of COVID-19.
  • DHS clients’ employment and earnings decreased markedly during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but began to rebound back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of September 2020. These trends paralleled the countywide situation.

How is this report used?

By continuing to investigate our clients’ employment experiences, DHS and its partners can gain insight into the economic challenges of our clients and tailor our services, including education and job-related supports, to better meet clients’ needs.

COVID-19 Community Learning Hubs

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The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to shift to remote learning models, causing challenges related to childcare and access to education. In response, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS), Trying Together, and the United Way partnered with out-of-school time providers and community-based organizations to open Community Learning Hubs. Opened in September 2020, the Hubs provided a free place for students to engage in virtual learning. Forty-nine providers operated 75 Hub locations that offered schoolwork support, technology troubleshooting, high-speed internet access, and meal distribution in a safe, supervised environment. This report provides data about student demographics, the school districts involved, and attendance trends.

What are the Bethesda-Homewood Properties?

The Bethesda-Homewood Properties were subsidized units located in several predominantly Black neighborhoods in Pittsburgh’s East End. In 2017, more than 200 residents of these properties were displaced. A federal subsidy provided to the property owner was being abated because of the owner’s repeated failure to maintain the properties. Residents were effectively forced to move because of the loss of their rental subsidy, but eligible residents were provided housing vouchers and moving cost assistance.

Why did we want to learn more about this housing displacement?

Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) wanted to learn more about the impact of housing displacement on residents of Bethesda-Homewood properties and use the information to inform planning for future mass displacements. This information is especially important in informing racial equity strategies in our region, given that housing displacement disproportionately affects Black residents, with Bethesda-Homewood being no exception.

What did we learn?

In some ways, housing vouchers offered opportunity for residents who moved; displaced residents were theoretically able to choose the location of their new homes. In reality, residents had difficulty finding landlords who would accept their housing vouchers, and the majority of displaced residents continued to live in neighborhoods with relatively high needs even after their relocation. While residents had limited geographic choice when it came to using their vouchers, most were still able to move to neighborhoods with comparatively less gun violence and good access to amenities. Half of those residents who completed a telephone survey reported feeling safer in their current neighborhood.


Related materials

Improving Crisis Prevention and Response

In September of 2020, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) and Allegheny County Emergency Services co-convened the Crisis Response Stakeholder Group (CRSG). Comprised of over 30 stakeholders from across the crisis system including representatives from 9-1-1, law enforcement, City and County government, elected officials, foundations, provider agencies and community members, the workgroup was formed to address the overreliance on emergency services for people with behavioral health needs, as well as the racial inequities that persist throughout our crisis system.

The group met regularly to map out the current crisis system and hear from a wide variety of stakeholders, including frontline staff and people in the community. They identified gaps and opportunities within the system and developed a set of 16 recommendations, which was published in February 2021.

Where can I find more information?

Visit the DHS page related to Improving Crisis Prevention and Response.