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 in Pittsburgh, particularly differences related to where an allegation happens — in or out of school — and how the outcomes of students involved with the juvenile justice system differ from those who have not been involved. We also wanted to know more about students’ involvement with human services in order to better understand where there might be gaps in services and supports for students involved with juvenile justice.

To explore these questions, we took a descriptive longitudinal look at students who were registered in Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) in school year 2010 and followed them through 2018.

What we found:

• One out of four middle and high school students who attended Pittsburgh Public Schools in the 2010 school year had at least one allegation in juvenile court during the study period. Of those allegations, 37% were made by PPS police.
• Eighty percent of students with allegations were Black, while only 58% of the total student body was Black. The rate of disproportionately was similar for allegations made by school police and those made outside of school.
• Allegations made by PPS police were much more likely to be for lower-level offenses than allegations outside of school, but more than half of students with either type of allegation had involvement with the adult criminal justice system later on.
• Students with an allegation had a higher number of school absences and suspensions throughout their time in school than those with no allegations.
• Students with an allegation were more likely than other students to be involved with the child welfare system, mental health services and live in assisted housing.

In recent years, PPS has put in place programs to divert students from the criminal justice system as well as implement restorative justice practices in schools, which we hope will lead to a reduction in disproportionality and improved outcomes for students.

 

Click here to view the full report. 

 

Throughout the United States, people experiencing behavioral health challenges are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and Allegheny County is no exception. To better understand the state of our current system and to learn more about promising approaches in other jurisdictions, Allegheny County sought an independent evaluator to conduct a study. From among a number of proposers, the county selected researchers from the University of Pittsburgh who interviewed dozens of stakeholders, analyzed justice system data, examined models from other jurisdictions, and solicited feedback through a series of workshops.

Click on the links above to learn more about the researchers’ findings and recommendations:

This report describes women in the Allegheny County criminal justice system with a goal of better understanding the population by exploring their demographics and human services history. The analysis describes women at three stages in the criminal justice system: women who had criminal filings, women booked into the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), and women released from the ACJ.

 Key findings include:

• While overall justice system involvement is declining in Allegheny County, the proportion of women involved is growing. For example, between 2008 and 2018, overall rates of incarceration in Allegheny County fell by 32%, but women’s rates of incarceration declined at a slower rate than men’s — a decrease of 23% compared to 34% for men.
• The majority of women booked in the jail were white (59%), but Black women were disproportionately represented when taking population into account: Black women were 4.2 times more likely to be in jail than white women.
• Prior to incarceration, women were more likely than men to have received income supports, used the emergency room, and received mental health and/or drug and alcohol treatment. They were also more likely to access these services after release from jail. These findings highlight the unique needs of women, while also suggesting points of contact where intervention might be effective.

Click here to read the full report.

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the Allegheny County Department of Human Services’ (DHS) goals, the types and volume of services we deliver in partnership with our network of providers and volunteers, and methods for delivering that help and support. A plan has been developed in response to the continuing spread of the coronavirus and its impact on the health, safety and economic stability of Allegheny County residents.

Click here to view the plan.

Since 2010, ACTION-Housing’s My Place program has provided housing and case management to Allegheny County youth who are either transitioning out of foster care or at-risk for homelessness. In 2013, ACTION-Housing built a modern, energy-efficient structure — the 24-unit Uptown Lofts — with the belief that services could be offered more effectively if many young adults were living at a single location. This report provides an overview of ACTION-Housing’s youth-focused programs and how it has found success serving vulnerable youth through supervised independence; clear expectations; and motivating, compassionate support staff.

Click here to read the report.

In partnership with nine community-based providers, Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) provides home-delivered meals to older adults in need. In order to learn more about meal recipient satisfaction, DHS surveyed more than 200 meal program participants. The survey found high satisfaction overall, with average scores ranging from 4.2 to 4.9 out of 5. Survey respondents rated delivery people high, while scores for taste of food and amount of food were slightly lower. Sixty-five percent of participants said that the program helped them feel less lonely, and 87% said that meal delivery helped them to remain in their own homes instead of needing a higher level of care.

Click here to read the report.

The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the Institute of Education Sciences (US Department of Education) examined data from Allegheny County students to better understand predictors of near-term academic risks. The goal of this research to provide information for administrators, researchers, and student support staff in local education agencies who are interested in identifying students who are likely to have near-term academic problems such as absenteeism, suspensions, poor grades, and low performance on state tests.

What is this report about? 

The report describes an approach for developing a predictive model and assesses how well the model identifies at-risk students using data from two local education agencies in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: a large local education agency and a smaller charter school network. It also examines which types of predictors— in-school variables (performance, behavior, and consequences) and out-of-school variables (human services involvement and public benefit receipt)—are individually related to each type of near-term academic problem to better understand why the model might flag students as at risk and how best to support these students.

What are the takeaways?

The study finds that predictive models using machine learning algorithms identify at-risk students with moderate to high accuracy. In-school variables drawing on school data are the strongest predictors across all outcomes, and predictive performance is not reduced much when out-of-school variables drawing on human services data are excluded and only school data are used. However, some out-of-school events and services—including child welfare involvement, emergency homeless services, and juvenile justice system involvement —are individually related to near-term academic problems. The models are more accurate for the large local education agency than for the smaller charter school network. The models are better at predicting low grade point average, course failure, and scores below the basic level on state tests in grades 3–8 than at predicting chronic absenteeism, suspensions, and scores below the basic level on high school end-of-course standardized tests. The findings suggest that many local education agencies could apply machine learning algorithms to existing school data to identify students who are at risk of near-term academic problems that are known to be precursors to school dropout.

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.

 

Two housing programs in Allegheny County, Rapid Rehousing (RRH) and the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV, or Section 8), provide monetary assistance to households so that families can rent from private landlords and live in the communities of their choice. While participant choice is a potential benefit of both programs, the reality is that where participants live is often limited. Fair market rent calculations, source of income discrimination, zoning laws, and participants’ eviction and credit records can all create obstacles for housing program participants seeking rental units.

Since place has a profound influence on the outcomes of children and adults, we wanted to explore the degree to which individuals and families in RRH and HCV programs moved to disadvantaged census tracts. Analysis found that approximately half of households in the two programs moved to highly or extremely disadvantaged census tracts, even though only 18% of all census tracts in Allegheny County were classified as such. Key findings of the analysis include:

• 54% of HCV households and 41% of RRH households moved to highly or extremely disadvantaged census tracts in 2017.
• A small fraction of households (17% of HCV households and 25% of RRH households) moved to census tracts considered to be opportunity tracts with low disadvantage.
• Race was the most statistically important factor impacting where households tended to move. For example, Black females with children were roughly twice as likely as White females with children to move to highly or extremely disadvantaged tracts.
• Moving patterns persisted over time; a comparison of HCV rental locations in 2010 versus 2017 showed that program participants tended to move to the exact same census tracts across the two years, not just the same sort of census tracts (i.e, tracts with similar levels of disadvantage).

Read the full report here.

Since financial stability is an important part of people’s ability to live healthy and independent lives, Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) wanted to learn more about the work experiences of its clients. Using data from the Allegheny County Data Warehouse and 2018 State Unemployment Insurance records, we found that the majority of eligible DHS clients were disconnected from the labor force in 2018, and those who were able to find work tended to earn less than other Allegheny County workers.

The analysis found that:

• 52% of the client sample was disconnected from the labor force in 2018.
• Only 24% of the client sample worked in all 4 quarters in 2018.
• Among clients who worked in all 4 quarters, 38% had earnings that fell below the federal poverty line.
• Even when holding constant occupation and industry, DHS clients appear to be working in lower-paying positions than the average Allegheny County worker.

But there were bright spots for some DHS clients:

• 9% of clients had earnings that exceeded the Allegheny County median.
• The utilities industry offered the highest earnings for DHS clients, who had mean earnings of more than $40,000 per year.

By investigating employment experiences, DHS and its partners can gain insight into clients’ economic challenges and tailor services like education and job training to better meet the needs of clients and employers.

Read the full report here.

National research shows that young adults transitioning out of foster care into adulthood face more challenges than their peers. This report examines outcomes for Allegheny County young adults who had been in a child welfare placement and exited the system from 2006 through 2016. Outcomes examined include achievement of legal permanency, education, employment, early parenting, homelessness, involvement in mental health and/or substance use disorder treatment, unexpected violent deaths (homicides, overdoses and suicides) and criminal justice involvement. The goal of the analysis was to provide a barometer of those outcomes that affect transition-aged youth and to record County resources that have been directed toward this population.

Read the report here.

Allegheny County homeless service programs are assessed yearly as part of a process of evaluating and prioritizing projects for funding. This evaluation process has historically been based on administrative data about clients’ housing and self-sufficiency outcomes. In order to more fully evaluate these services – and to align with suggestions from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – DHS and other stakeholders are piloting feedback methods and tools to better understand clients’ experience with the services they receive. During the first iteration of the pilot, more than 200 clients receiving a range of homeless services responded to a survey by text, online or in person.

This report describes the 2018 pilot process for the development and administration of the survey, analyzes findings from the survey, and discusses insights and recommendations for future survey administration.

Read the report here.

What is an out-of-home placement? 

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) is mandated by law to protect children under the age of 18 from abuse and neglect. When a child welfare investigation finds that a child is at risk of abuse or neglect, a case is opened, and DHS works with the family to identify natural supports and other supportive services that will help the child remain safely in the home.

If DHS finds that the child cannot continue to reside safely in the home, the case is brought before a judge, who may determine that a temporary home, called an out-of-home placement, is necessary. Whenever possible, out-of-home placements are in homes of relatives or friends of the family (known as kinship care) or in foster homes. Less often, children are placed in congregate care in either a group home or a residential treatment facility. At the end of an out-of-home placement, DHS aims to reunite children with their families whenever possible. If a child cannot return home, DHS works to identify other permanent options such as adoption or permanent legal custodianship.

What data is tracked?

This report and related dashboard provide an overview of child welfare placement dynamics during the decade 2008-2017. Data describe 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).

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Related materials

• Report: 2000-2009 data

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 participants.

Click here to read the report.

The Allegheny County Jail Collaborative is an alliance of government agencies and nonprofit groups dedicated to addressing the needs of people returning to the community after leaving the Allegheny County Jail. This report describes Jail Collaborative activities during the past year and progress on the Collaborative’s 2016-2019 strategic plan.

Click here to read the report.