Innovation and Reform
Improving Crisis Prevention and Response
In September of 2020, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services 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 ...
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All Hands on a Remote Deck: The Sequel
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued into the fall of 2020, The Allegheny County (PA) Department of Human Services (DHS) faced new challenges and opportunities to improve its response to the ongoing and emerging needs created by an international health crisis that showed no signs of abating. This report continues where All Hands on a Remote ...
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Allegheny County Department of Human Services’ Strategic Initiatives: 2019-2020 Final Report
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) helps more than 200,000 people each year through well-established programs and innovations that advance its mission. In addition to these day-to-day programs, DHS developed a set of “strategic initiatives” to focus on in 2019 and 2020 – developed through a planning process that involved a full review ...
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All Hands on a Remote Deck: The Allegheny County Department of Human Services’ Early Response to COVID-19
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Allegheny County, PA, the Department of Human Services (DHS) responded with a tireless focus on the needs of providers, staff and County residents. From establishing remote work policies to creating a mechanism for daily briefings for provider staff to providing internet capability for hundreds of families and children, DHS was ...
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2019 Case Competition for Graduate Students: Human Service Delivery in the Gig Economy
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. This year’s topic, “Human Service Delivery in the Gig Economy,” challenged students to identify a community need and develop an innovative solution using gig strategies. Read the ...
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Free Tax Prep Coalition Completes 300 Tax Returns in 2019: Data Brief
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) offers free tax preparation services at its downtown location for income-eligible County residents. This data brief provides a summary of DHS’s 2019 tax assistance service, the taxpayers using the service and the volunteers who were involved. Data is from participants’ tax returns with additional information self-reported by ...
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Developing Predictive Risk Models to Support Child Maltreatment Hotline Screening Decisions
The Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST) is a predictive risk model designed to improve decision-making in Allegheny County’s child welfare system. The tool utilizes hundreds of data elements to predict the likelihood that a child referred for abuse or neglect will later experience a foster care placement. The AFST provides additional information – in conjunction ...
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Ride-Hailing for Medical Transportation Clients Improves Experience and Efficiency
Allegheny County Medicaid recipients are entitled to free transportation assistance to their non-emergency medical appointments. Traditionally, this transportation has been provided by paratransit vehicles for those not able to utilize public transportation or their own vehicle. The advent of ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber has presented a new, rider-friendly option. This report describes a ...
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2018 Case Competition for Graduate Students: Emerging Technologies to Address Human Service Problems
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. This year’s topic, “Emerging Technologies to Address Human Service Problems,” asked students to apply game-changing applications of newer technologies in innovative ways to improve the lives of ...
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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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Pilot Program Uses Technology to Collect Quick, Actionable Feedback from Human Services Clients
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) continuously strives to better understand our clients’ experiences and incorporate that feedback into service planning. We recently tested satisfaction kiosks as a new way of collecting feedback. The wireless kiosks were placed in a variety of service locations and asked clients to indicate their satisfaction by pressing ...
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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. It 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. ...
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2017 Case Competition for Local Graduate Students: Rethinking Human Services Delivery
Each year, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) hosts a competition for local graduate students that challenges interdisciplinary teams to learn about a problem facing local government and develop innovative solutions. The 2017 competition asked students to envision a future where DHS would distribute funds directly to vulnerable Allegheny County residents and design ...
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Moving a Child Welfare System to Be More Affirming of the LGBTQ Community: Strategies, Challenges and Lessons Learned
In an effort to provide affirming services to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer/questioning) communities involved with Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services (DHS), the first Department-wide LGBTQ work group began in 2009. At that time, sexual orientation and gender identity were not frequently discussed as part of DHS practice. By 2016, DHS had made ...
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Free Tax Preparation Services at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, has been offering free tax preparation in several locations throughout the County since 2011. Thirteen trained volunteers helped 343 clients in need prepare returns last year. Collectively, these clients received a total federal refund of $519,645, at no ...
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2016 Allegheny County DHS Local Government Case Competition: Improving Systems to Help People with Barriers Gain and Sustain Employment
The tenth annual Local Government Case Competition engaged graduate students in thinking about creative solutions to employment challenges for vulnerable Allegheny County residents. They were asked to develop strategies to address one of three employment-related questions: How can job centers or other employment resources better support vulnerable populations in finding and maintaining jobs? How can ...
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Joint Position Statement on Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders in Allegheny County
Allegheny County, like much of Western Pennsylvania, is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic and it is vitally important that County residents have access to the best and most effective treatment to support their recovery from opioid use disorders. Medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, combines medication and counseling/behavioral therapy and, when clinically appropriate, is ...
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The Director’s Action Line at Twenty Years: Trends, Client Satisfaction and Recommendations
Receiving more than 3,000 calls annually, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) Director’s Action Line (DAL) is an effective mechanism through which clients and other community members can resolve issues and get information about DHS services. It is also an important feedback tool for DHS, providing information about client experiences and perceptions of ...
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Of and For the Community: How Community Engagement and Communication Helped to Shape the Allegheny County Department of Human Services
Creating an integrated Department of Human Services in 1997 was a herculean task. It involved combining four formerly-separate departments, geographically dispersed and structured in very different ways. Administratively, technologically, fiscally and culturally, each had functioned autonomously for decades. A strategic set of engagement and communication efforts were key to the community buy-in and support that ...
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Child Welfare Leadership Fellows: Using Data to Improve the Lives of Children and Families
Twenty-seven child welfare professionals participated in the first year of the Leadership Fellows program, learning how to use data to 1) identify issues that negatively impact children and families in the child welfare system and 2) make recommendations to address those issues. The fellows focused on teenage girls in out-of-home placement and recommended strategies to ...
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Introducing Performance-Based Contracting: A Comparison of Implementation Models
Linking provider payments to performance measures is gaining popularity as a way to improve outcomes, efficiency and innovations. Three performance-based contracting models have been implemented in Allegheny County, targeting: 1) the Senior Center network; 2) child welfare providers; and 3) DHS-funded providers of the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative. Each focuses on service-related outcomes and offers ...
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Inua Ubuntu: An Assessment of Implementation, Program Process and Child Welfare Involvement
Inua Ubuntu, designed to provide culturally-based intervention with a goal of reducing the rate of out-of-home placement for African American males, was implemented by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services in 2010. The program is based on an African-centric concept of family and community, and is driven by the theory that services are most ...
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Common Assessment Tools: Implementation and Implications for Service Integration
An initial assessment is often a client’s first service experience, and, as such, it plays a major role in the perception, comfort and outcomes of the service. Simultaneously, the assessment can set the tone for the eventual outcomes of the This report describes the process of adapting and/or developing common assessments for use in Allegheny ...
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2013 Allegheny County DHS Local Government Case Competition: Building a Human Services Workforce for the 21st Century
The 7th annual Local Government Case Competition engaged graduate students in addressing the challenges of staffing a human services system that is increasingly data driven, integrated and community based. Click to read the full report. Local Government Case Competition: Allegheny County (PA) Department of Human Services 2013 from Allegheny County DHS on Vimeo....
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Managing with Less: Implementation of the Allegheny County Human Services Block Grant
Fiscal Year 2012/2013 saw the implementation of the Human Services Block Grant in Allegheny County, which combined a 10 percent decrease in funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (now the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services) with greater flexibility in how those funds could be spent. The local planning process included community involvement and ...
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Brief Wraparound Residential Model and In-Community Stabilization Process: Description, Implementation and Future Plans
The Brief Wraparound Residential model emphasizes working with youth on what they need to be successful following their stay in residential care; that is, at home, in school and in the community. It involves immediate engagement with the youth and family and is designed to support reunification and successful re-entry into the home and community. ...
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2012 Allegheny County DHS Local Government Case Competition: Addressing Suburban Poverty and Those Affected by It
The sixth annual Local Government Case Competition focused on the issue of suburban poverty. This report summarizes the winning presentations as well as the key ideas generated during the competition. Click to read the full report. ...
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Natural Supports: A Scan of Current Use and Future Opportunities
Natural supports are those family members, friends and community members who enhance our lives and support us in achieving our goals. The use of natural supports is becoming more common in association with human services, and DHS actively promotes the identification of natural supports and their involvement with individuals and families involved in a variety ...
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Your Culture is Valued Here: Lessons from the DHS Immigrants and Internationals Advisory Council
In 2007, DHS established an Immigrant and International Advisory Council, seeking to ensure that its services were culturally competent and accessible. Since that time, the Council is credited by many with making the region more immigrant-friendly. Beginning with two specific goals – cultural competence training and improving access to translation and interpretation services – the ...
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From Almshouses to Excellence: A History of Child Welfare in Allegheny County
To commemorate 50 years during which Allegheny County government has been responsible for providing public child welfare services, DHS commissioned this historical overview of child welfare in the county. Click here to view the full report. Related: The Next Page: Bold ideas behind Pittsburgh’s first child-welfare system – Meet the heroines Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 4, ...
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Allegheny County Department of Human Services Quality Improvement Activities: 2009-2011
Since 2008, when a report on Quality Improvement activities across DHS was published, an enhanced quality improvement process has been in place for the delivery of direct services at DHS. The primary focus on these efforts have been in child welfare; activities range from a Quality Service Review process to Child Fatality and Near-Fatality reviews. ...
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2011 Allegheny County DHS Local Government Case Competition: Reducing Stigma among Individuals with Serious Mental Illness
Participants in the fifth annual Local Government Case Competition were asked to develop a plan to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Teams of graduate students approached the challenge from a variety of perspectives; the winning team targeted working-age adults with mental illness through a multifaceted plan of increased self-sufficiency and public awareness. In ...
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Showing the Way Out: Youth Support Partners Use their Personal Experiences to Support Other Youth
In 2008, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services hired four Youth Support Partners (YSP), young adults with lived experiences in human services, to serve as positive role models and peer supports for young people involved in the system. From that beginning, the Youth Support Partners program has expanded to include a manager, four supervisors ...
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System of Care Initiative: Building Creative Partnerships – Involving Families in Program Evaluation
Between 1993 and 2011, Allegheny County Department of Human Services received three SAMHSA grants to implement systems of care designed to support youth with serious emotional disturbances who were involved in multiple child-serving systems. Evaluation was a critical piece of these grants, which prioritized family empowerment and inclusion. In keeping with this priority, and its ...
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Evaluation of Allegheny County’s Crisis Intervention Team Training Program
This report summarizes the development, implementation and evaluation of a crisis intervention training program designed to teach police officers how to identify and intervene appropriately and safely with individuals with mental illness. Click here to view the full report....
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How Case Reviews Transformed Allegheny County’s Criminal Justice System
This report describes Allegheny County’s criminal justice case review process, including factors that have contributed to its success and proposed solutions to ongoing issues. Click here to view the full report....
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Transforming Lives Through Systems Integration: The “Improving Outcomes for Children and Families” Initiative
DHS’s Improving Outcomes for Child and Families initiative utilized a service integration focus to serve families with multiple needs. It was based on the belief that making systems work together as a team would improve services and reduce the confusion that families face when they need to interact with staff from a variety of child-serving ...
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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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Challenge and Change 1997-2010: Transforming an administrative infrastructure to support program integration
This report details the transformational administrative and operational changes within DHS from its creation in 1997 through 2010. Click to read the full report....
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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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Quality Improvement Assessment
This report describes the more than 100 quality improvement activities and initiatives taking place throughout DHS, using the Council on Accreditation’s (COA) Performance and Quality Improvement standards to frame the discussion of how DHS currently manages quality improvement. It discusses best practice approaches and provides benchmarking information about what organizations similar to DHS are doing, ...
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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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2008 DHS Local Government Case Competition: Greening DHS
The second annual Local Government Case Competition sought ideas from students on how to embed environmental sustainability in DHS policies and operations. Forty-six graduate students from local universities were divided into 12 teams and each team presented its ideas to a panel of judges. These presentations, as well as an overview of the Competition and ...
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Data Warehousing, Flow Models and Public Policy
This paper, presented at the 28th Annual APPAM Research Conference in November 2006, describes the context and need for integrated data in human services, data warehousing technology and its unique challenges in the public sector, innovative data warehouse applications that have arisen in part from joint projects with universities, and future opportunities for data warehousing. ...
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2007 DHS Local Government Case Competition: The Future of DHS
This report describes DHS’s inaugural Local Government Case Competition, in which local graduate students were asked to consider how DHS will look in the next 10 years. Click to read the full report....
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Redesigning Human Service Delivery in Allegheny County
With the creation of the Department of Human Services in 2007, Director Marc Cherna began the process of integrating the existing Departments of Aging, Federal Programs, Children and Youth Services and Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Drug & Alcohol/Homeless & Hunger Programs. The restructuring, which was the result of a lengthy internal planning process and public discussion, is ...