Innovation and Reform

Information about how we enact change through data, analyze and redesign systems, engage with the community, and connect with local universities.
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Intimate Partner Violence Reform Initiative: Report on progress

The Intimate Partner Violence Reform Initiative was created in May 2022 to coordinate policy and system-level work across agencies in Allegheny County to improve a complex and fragmented system for […]

Improving Access to Mental Health Outpatient Services for Adult Medicaid Patients

Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS), along with Community Care Behavioral Health (CCBH), are pursuing a series of investments and initiatives aimed at addressing access to mental health services.

Allegheny Go Program: Interactive Dashboard

This dashboard reports on application statistics and participant demographics for the Allegheny Go program, a transportation assistance program.

An Agile Response to an Unexpected Challenge: How the Older Adult Protective Services Program Reinvented Itself to Respond to Growing Demand

Read about how Allegheny County responded to an 82% increase in reports of need to Older Adult Protective Services. Click here to read more information about older adult protective services […]

Predictive Risk Models in Child Welfare

This report reviews the research evidence on algorithms in child welfare, specifically focusing on the causal impacts of the AFST and comparable predictive risk models (PRMs).

A crowd of diverse faces

Community Need Index

Updated with 2022 data. The Allegheny County Need Index was developed to identify areas of the County that have greater relative need. This report and related materials explore census tracts in need and recent trends.

Allegheny County Discounted Fares Pilot Program

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) partnered with Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) to launch a new transportation assistance program in November 2022 called the Discounted Fares Pilot. This […]

DHS Goals and Key Initiatives: 2024

DHS can reach our goals more quickly if we devote time and attention to several big, bold initiatives that will make our systems and our organization work better for everyone we serve. This document outlines our key initiatives in 2024—which are in addition to our core work of running effective systems of care for people.

DHS 2023 Accomplishments

This report highlights the 2023 DHS accomplishments that stood out. There are many, many other achievements. We chose the ones that made the biggest difference.

Allegheny County DHS Text Messaging Outreach: Interactive Dashboard

DHS sends text messages to county residents to increase awareness of services, provide reminders, and to gather feedback  This dashboard displays information about these efforts. Updated daily.

Allegheny County Data Warehouse

Updated information added. View information about the Allegheny County Data Warehouse, which brings together and integrates client and service data from a wide variety of sources both internal and external to the County.

Annual Human Services Case Competition for Local Graduate Students

Updated 2023 information. Reports about DHS’s yearly case competition, which invites local graduate students on interdisciplinary teams to solve a problem in local government.

DHS Annual Plans and Budgets

In its responsibility for administering publicly-funded human services, Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) plans for the allocation of more than $1B in areas that span behavioral health, children […]

Generating a Fully Synthetic Human Services Dataset

In 2022, staff at the Urban Institute partnered with the Allegheny County DHS and the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC) to pilot synthetic data generation at the local level, […]

Using SMS text messaging to inform, engage and communicate with residents

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) engages clients and others who interact with DHS programs in a variety of ways: regular roundtables/cabinets (e.g., Children’s Cabinet); town halls and […]