Current Documents

What are Child Fatalities and Near-Fatalities?

The County is required by state law to review each death or near-death of a child and use the information to improve practice and systems. The 2008 Act 33 Amendment to the Child Protective Services law requires state and local reviews of all child fatalities and near-fatalities that result from suspected child abuse.

2019-2021 Child Fatalities and Near-Fatalities Key Findings

  • In Allegheny County from 2019 through 2021 there were 58 child fatalities or near fatalities. The number of total incidents rose each of these years, with 2021 experiencing 25—the highest number since the review process was developed in 2008
  • The age distribution of the victims in these years was consistent with the average distribution across all prior years. Most victims (44%, 26) were under one year of age, followed by 9 victims (16%) at age one
  • Blunt force/penetrating trauma (36%, 21) was the leading causes of both fatal and near-fatal injuries.  There were more incidents caused by drug ingestion or poisoning in 2021 (8) than in previous years
  • Most families (58%) had prior CYF involvement and 33% had active involvement at the time of the incident
  • Parents of the children remained the vast majority (70%) of named perpetrators, as with years prior

What can the dashboard tell us?

This dashboard and series of reports describes findings and outcomes from child fatality/near-fatality (CFNF) reviews. Information about the incidents–including victim and perpetrator demographics, cause of death/injury and families’ prior involvement with the child welfare system–is available in these reports as well as case practice and system reforms enacted to reduce the likelihood of future child abuse-related incidents.

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

How is this information being used?

In addition to the state required reporting of child fatalities and near-fatalities, DHS has used the information to make recommendations to prevent these tragedies in the future. These recommendations include:

  • Improved collaboration with medical physicians
  • Upstream prevention and intervention services
  • Integration of the child welfare system and the substance use treatment system
  • Community and firearm violence reduction
  • Applying safety science to child protection

In depth explanations of these recommendations can be found in the “current documents” section above.


Previous reports

Current dashboard and report

What are Older Adult Protective Services?

This program provides services to vulnerable adults who are at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Through a telephone hotline, residents can report allegations of harm to an older adult. Staff collect information about the allegation, investigate the situation, and, if allegations are substantiated, work with the individual on a care plan.

What data is available?

A related analytics report describes our findings. The dashboard below provides an overview of how allegations are made, investigated, and substantiated. It also provides information on:

  • Number of calls to the protective services hotline
  • How many allegations were investigated
  • How many investigations were substantiated
  • Demographics of alleged victims

The dashboard is updated yearly, when new data is available.

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

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program offers financial assistance for people struggling to pay rent or utilities due to COVID-19. These dashboards track data about the program, those who have applied, and those who have received funds.

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

Current report and dashboard

What information about overdose deaths is available?

  • A report describes accidental overdose deaths that occurred in Allegheny County from January 2016 through June 2020 with a look at trends in numbers of deaths, demographics, and substances involved, like opioids and fentanyl.
  • An interactive dashboard provides data from 2008 and allows users to filter data for a closer look at particular years, substance types, demographic groups, and neighborhoods. The dashboard also provides information about fatal and non-fatal overdoses that resulted in hospital emergency department visits or administration of naloxone by EMS.

The report and dashboard are joint efforts of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), present an analysis of deaths resulting from opioid overdose.

How is this data used?

Data on victims and potential risk factors can help County government and other stakeholders implement evidence-based strategies to address the ongoing opioid epidemic. The reports, maps and dataset are provided in an effort to inform and stimulate discussion about substance use treatment and prevention.


Related materials

Previous reports about accidental overdose

Dataset

  • Overdose deaths by Allegheny County municipality: 2008-2014

Maps

The dashboard below provides information about Allegheny County Jail population management, including the daily jail population, population in alternative housing, bookings and releases, and lengths of stay. Data is available from 2018 to the present and is updated daily.

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

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The dashboard below provides an overview of Allegheny County child welfare out-of-home placements from 2010 through 2021. Data describe yearly point-in-time counts of children in placement (“PIT” tab), characteristics of children in placement, what types of placements were used, how long children stayed there, where they went after their placement ended (also known as exits) and how many returned to the child welfare system after returning home (also known as re-entries). The dashboard is updated annually when a full year of data becomes available.

A related report provides analysis of placement trends over the past decade.

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


Related materials

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The dashboard below allows users to explore detailed data about COVID-19 testing, cases and outcomes and to filter by race, ethnicity, gender and age. Data is updated daily.

Problems viewing the dashboard? You can view it directly here.

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The dashboard below provides information about the change in Allegheny County residents’ use of human services and other public services. Data includes homeless shelter usage, calls to child welfare and calls to the SeniorLine.  The dashboard also includes key performance indicators in the county’s criminal justice system.

 

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

 

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The dashboard below displays information about Allegheny County suicides since 2002. View trends in yearly suicides, demographics of people who died by suicide, and locations within the county. The data is updated monthly.

A related data brief is also available.

Problems viewing the dashboard? You can view it directly here.


Related materials

The dashboard below displays data about homelessness programs in Allegheny County and the clients using them. Data comes from the Allegheny County Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Data is available from January 1, 2014 through the present and is updated daily (with a lag time of one day).

Problems viewing the dashboard? You can view it directly here.

Related materials

The dashboard below displays data about homicides that have occurred in Allegheny County since 2007, demographics of victims, and where incidents occurred. Data come from the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner and is updated monthly. A related report about homicides in the region is available.

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

Related materials

Access the dashboard

An involuntary commitment, also known as a 302, may occur when an individual is exhibiting symptoms of mental illness that are unmanageable and may result in danger to themselves or to others. The dashboard below displays data about the involuntary commitment process in Allegheny County from petition to examination to inpatient admission. Data ranges from May 2014 to the present and is updated daily.

A related report is also available.

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


Related materials

This infographic depicts the flow of homeless youth in and out of Allegheny County’s homeless service system. Analyzing the housing services that youth used — in addition to the places they were residing before and after receiving these services — helps inform outreach efforts and service planning. This is part of an effort to prevent and divert youth from homelessness and improve the housing outcomes of youth who do experience homelessness.

Using data from the County’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), 260 youth ages 18-24 who used a homeless service between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 were identified. Residence before and after service utilization were self-reported by youth. Some youth entered the homeless system multiple times during this period for a total of 321 service involvement entries during the period of study. Not all youth who entered a homeless service in 2016 exited within the same year; as a result, total entries into service do not equal exits.

The left side of the chart shows where youth were residing prior to their use of homeless services. The most frequent location was a doubled-up situation, i.e., living with a friend or family member in a place where they could not stay permanently. The middle of the chart displays the homeless services used by youth; emergency shelters were accessed most frequently followed by transitional housing services. The right side of the chart displays where youth went after leaving a homeless service. Most youth went to permanent living situations, though many also went to non-permanent locations and data was not available for about a quarter of service exits.

Click here to view the infographic.