Education
Community Learning Hubs in Allegheny County: Data Report
The COVID-19 pandemic has 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 ...
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Students’ Experiences with the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems In and Out of School: A Longitudinal Analysis of Pittsburgh Public School Students, 2010–2018
The presence of police officers in schools has become increasingly common since the practice was introduced in the 1950s. While law enforcement in schools may deter criminal behavior, it can also have the effect of increasing youth juvenile justice system involvement. Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) wanted to learn more about youth arrests ...
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Collaboration Helps Hundreds of Allegheny County Students in Foster Care Remain in Their Home Schools
When a child is placed in a foster home, the resulting move can also mean living in a new school district. Research has shown that unplanned school changes can lead to worse educational outcomes, such as lower test scores and graduation rates. A 2015 federal mandate, the Every Student Succeeds Act, requires that children in ...
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The Impact of Child Welfare System Involvement on School Stability – An Evaluation of Pittsburgh Public School Students
Child welfare out-of-home placements are stressful events, compounded by the fact they may result in a youth changing schools. Research shows mid-year school changes to be disruptive both academically and socially. This report examines child welfare imposed mobility, identifying system challenges as well as the positive factors that have led to an overall decrease in ...
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Improving Education and Well Being Outcomes: August 2015 Update
By the spring of 2015, 16 school districts, Propel Schools and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit had signed legal agreements with the Department of Human Services (DHS), allowing data to be shared on a level never before possible. This publication describes the way in which DHS’s partnerships with local school districts continued to expand and enabled ...
Sharing Data to Support Homeless Students in Allegheny County
Schools districts and human service systems define homelessness differently (as mandated by their respective regulatory and funding entities), resulting in many youth who are known to only one system. While being homeless is a disruptive experience that often hurts educational achievement, homeless youth are afforded additional supports to counteract these impacts. This report examines the ...
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School-Based Probation in Allegheny County: Examining the Costs and Benefits
Intensive supervision programs like school-based probation are increasingly viewed as a way to generate savings to society, by preventing or reducing the likelihood of crime, as well as to improve outcomes for the juvenile offenders through an emphasis on education and employment opportunities. Allegheny County examined a number of outcomes for Pittsburgh Public School students ...
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Addressing School Absenteeism
An increased focus on school attendance has led to the implementation of a number of strategies designed to reduce absenteeism and its related impact on academic outcomes. The implications of chronic absenteeism are particularly relevant for students involved in human services, who account for a disproportionate number of chronically absent students. This brief addresses the ...
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Truancy Prevention Programs in Allegheny County
DHS analyzed data and conducted interviews about the services provided and outcomes achieved by two Allegheny County truancy prevention programs. This report details those activities and provides information about ways in which truancy prevention and intervention efforts could be improved. Click to read the data brief. ...
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ACHIEVE After-School Program
The ACHIEVE after-school program evolved from DHS’s data-sharing agreement with the Pittsburgh Public Schools and was designed as an intervention for under-performing middle school students who were also involved in human services. ACHIEVE ran for two years and had inconsistent results. Overall, it did not result in improved school performance for the participating students. This ...
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Human Services Involvement of Home-Schooled and Cyber Charter School-Enrolled Students in Pittsburgh Public Schools
At the end of the 2011-2012 school year, about three percent of Pittsburgh Public School students were enrolled in a cyber charter school and less than one percent of Pittsburgh Public School students were being home-schooled. An analysis showed that these students had very little human service involvement, as described in this data brief. Click ...
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Improving Educational and Well Being Outcomes: August 2013 Update
In the third year of the agreement that allows the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and Department of Human Services (DHS) to integrate data, collaboration extended beyond DHS and local school districts, and community stakeholders became engaged in improving educational outcomes for children. This publication details progress since the original Memorandum of Understanding between DHS and ...
Improving Educational Outcomes for Child Welfare-Involved Youth: Allegheny County’s Implementation of the Child Welfare Education Screen
In response to federal, state and local priorities, DHS implemented the Pennsylvania General and Special Education/Disability Accommodation Screen (Education Screen) in partnership with provider agencies and local school districts. The Education Screen was designed to increase collaborative efforts between DHS and school districts, with a focus on improved educational outcomes for students. Implementation included appointment ...
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Gaps in School Achievement: Human Services Involvement in Clairton City Public Schools
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 ...
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Improving Educational and Well Being Outcomes: July 2012 Update
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 ...
Disparities in Achievement: Human Services Involvement of Children in Pittsburgh Public Schools
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 ...
Improving Education and Well Being Outcomes: June 2011 Update
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 ...
Framework for Collaboration: The Memorandum of Understanding between Allegheny County DHS and Pittsburgh Public Schools
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, ...
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2010 Local Government Case Competition: Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pathways to the Promise
Fifty-five graduate students from local universities participated in the 4th Local Government Case Competition. The focus of this year’s competition was on narrowing the academic achievement gap for students involved in human services and raising the bar for all Pittsburgh Public School students. Specifically, participants were asked to consider how to make more students “Promise ...
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Starting Early Together – Assessing a System of Care Initiative
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 ...
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2009 Allegheny County DHS Local Government Case Competition: Building the Homewood Children’s Village
The 3rd annual Case Competition was designed to engage local graduate students in developing a five-year strategic plan for the Homewood Children’s Village. Student teams approached the challenge from a variety of perspectives, but the team that ultimately won the competition impressed the judges with their knowledge of Homewood’s existing assets and their ability to ...
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Homewood: A Community Profile
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 ...