In January 2012, DHS and the Clairton City School District signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to share student data. The partnership built on previous work to share data between Pittsburgh Public Schools and DHS.

Using data shared between Clairton and DHS, 63 percent of Clairton students were found to have prior or current involvement with human services programs. The report describes which DHS programs students were involved with and the educational outcomes of students who received DHS services compared to those who did not.

Click here to read the report. 

The second year of the agreement that allows the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and Department of Human Services (DHS) to integrate data brought opportunities to improve school performance of children involved in human services. For example, the Administration for Children and Families Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services awarded DHS a grant to develop new ways to use data to address truancy and improve the educational stability of children in care. DHS was also one of four agencies selected to receive a grant from the MacArthur Foundation to study the relationship between public housing residency and students’ academic performance and outcomes.

This publication details the challenges and achievements of the second year of DHS’s data sharing agreement with local school districts.

Click here to read the report.

Click here to read Improving Education and Well Being Outcomes: June 2011 Update.

A data-sharing agreement between the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) now makes it possible to integrate and analyze student data from the schools, human services agencies, juvenile justice and other sources. A 2010 preliminary analysis of that data offers the most comprehensive statistical profile to date of city public school students receiving services, as well as students with prior service involvement.

The following publications include data and analysis related to human services involvement among PPS students:

• An in-depth look at the human services involvement of PPS students: Disparities in Achievement: Human Services Involvement of Children in Pittsburgh Public Schools
• Brief snapshots of analysis about human service involvement of PPS students:
  • Human Service Involvement of PPS Students
  • Academic Outcomes of PPS Students Involved in Human Services
  • Academic Outcomes by Race of PPS Students Receiving Human Services

Click here to read about the data sharing agreement between PPS and DHS.

The first year of the agreement that allows the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and Department of Human Services (DHS) to integrate data saw steady progress in building a collaborative relationship to improve the academic outcomes and well-being of students of mutual interest. By the end of 2010, the focus had shifted from organizational and technical issues to investigating ways to use the novel data resource for the benefit of students and to improve the effectiveness of the systems that support them.

This publication details the first initiative that was undertaken using integrated student data to develop strategies and interventions to improve education and well being outcomes.

Click here to read the report.

Click here to read about the data sharing agreement between PPS and DHS.

Integrating Pittsburgh Public School (PPS) data with the Department of Human Services (DHS) Data Warehouse allows unprecedented collaboration between human services and school social workers. Our partnerships with local school districts have lead to a better understanding of the impact certain interventions have on children’s education. And they have provided the basis for richer analyses, which, in turn, helps us to identify areas of need and suggest new approaches to addressing them.

This report describes the process that led to the Memorandum of Understanding between DHS and local school districts.

Click to read the report.

Click to read a one-page brief about the key aspects of the data-sharing partnership.

Starting Early Together, a program of Allegheny County’s System of Care Initiative, was designed to serve children under six with serious emotional disturbances, and their families, in four high-need Allegheny County communities. The program combined service coordination with formal family supports, and was intended to transform the mental health system for children and families and its relationship to early intervention, child welfare, child care and family support. Focus groups were held to determine the strengths of the program as well as any service gaps. The results of the focus groups, and related recommendations, are included in this report.

Click here to view the full report.

This profile of the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homewood (and subsequent Addendum) was compiled by DHS to assess demographic changes and examine quality of life issues-poverty, education, health care-in Homewood and in the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to accurately assess the community’s assets and needs.

Click here to view the full report.

Click here to read the addendum report.