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.
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 brief describes the program and the results, including the challenges faced and lessons learned.
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.
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 local school districts was signed.
Click here to read the report.
Click here to read Improving Educational and Well Being Outcomes: July 2012 Update.
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 of an Education Liaison, revisions to the child welfare records management application to allow for electronic completion of the Screen, and training and technical assistance. This report describes the implementation strategies utilized and lessons learned.
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.
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:
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 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.
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.