Support the expansion of the Mission of Mercy model

The Mission of Mercy model is a free, two-day dental, vision, and hearing clinic which serves patients in need, and is operated by a local nonprofit organization, A Call to Care. The county will support this important program by helping to identify locations and sharing information about these services with residents.

In Progress

The Allegheny County Health Department’s dental clinic annually participates in the event, and plans to continue to support upcoming events with community outreach and additional ACHD staffing. This year’s Mission of Mercy Clinic takes place on November 1-2, 2024, at the David Lawrence Convention Center.

Expand the effective Best Babies Zone Model

The Best Babies Zone model works to ensure that babies are born into a community that will enable them to thrive and reach their full potential by addressing risk factors for infant mortality.

Allegheny County will continue to identify more state and federal funding to expand the program to high-need communities. The program currently serves families and infants in Wilkinsburg through partnerships with:

• • Healthy Start, Inc., Pittsburgh
  • ACHD Family and Child Health Division
  • The University of Pittsburgh Centers for Health Equity
  • Trying Together
  • Women for a Healthy Environment

In Progress

The Healthy Babies Zone (HBZ) Wilkinsburg project continues to work across sectors to leverage assets within Wilkinsburg to support families and address inequities that impact infant mortality. One key effort of the HBZ partners and community members has been to develop the Wilkinsburg Walking Path to increase opportunities for cardiovascular activities for borough residents.

There is an ongoing effort to identify more communities to adapt the Best Babies Zone (BBZ) model and establish a community structure that ensures babies are born into a community that will enable them to thrive and reach their full potential.

Recruit more Behavioral Health Fellows to join County government

With a focus on recruiting diverse candidates, applications are open now for full-time behavioral health positions with local organizations. To make these jobs attractive, the county offers competitive wages and up to $25,000.00 toward bachelor’s degree student loan repayment or up to $45,000.00 toward master’s degree student loan repayment (tax-free).

In Progress

The Behavioral Health Fellows Program aims to serve more people who need behavioral health care by stabilizing the public behavioral health workforce with a set of 180 trained Fellows, where workforce shortages are most serious. The Fellows are placed with behavioral health service agencies across the county.

The next cohort of Fellows will start in October 2024, and the final two cohorts are set to begin in February and June 2025.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has partnered with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation to manage this program’s promotion and recruitment, the application process, and the cohort training. Additionally, DHS partners with Community Family Advocates, which manages the program funds, including student loan payments and the financial analysis required to determine each Fellow’s eligible student loan repayment fund amount.

Pioneer a new, centralized technology system that will make it easy to find youth mental health services

Maintained by the county’s behavioral health managed care organization in partnership with DHS, this tool helps identify available capacity for mental health services when families and young people need it, saving time trying to find care. The county will work to expand the tool to include substance use and adult mental health services over the coming year.

In Progress

DHS and Community Care Behavioral Health (CCBH) have made progress in obtaining the data needed to create a system where it is possible to see available appointments. Once both parts of the project are completed (data and its infrastructure plus the system for viewing appointments), it will be possible to use a central system.

Support the Teen Mental Health Collaborative

The Teen Mental Health Collaborative is a coalition of community-based organizations that serve teens coordinated by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation. This coalition has been meeting since 2020 and has identified a plan to improve community-based triage, early intervention, and connection to services. The county will explore how to support this work, including through joint state advocacy for needed resources.

In Progress

The Teen Mental Health Collaborative (aka “The Collaborative”) is managed by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, and “facilitates opportunities for youth-serving organizations to share their approaches to providing emotional support, connection, and engagement for teens and to learn from one another.”

The DHS Stand Together program, part of the Collaborative, is a school-based program that trains, inspires and equips students to act against stigma toward peers with mental and/or substance use disorders and promotes social inclusion and help-seeking behavior by youth. At this time, 10 schools are enrolled in the Stand Together Program.

Support the expansion of Federally-Qualified Health Centers

Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are federally-funded nonprofit clinics that serve medically underserved areas and populations and provide care regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. FQHCs are a critically important way that families can access the care they need, at one location that integrates physical and behavioral health care.

The county will work with the FQHCs to understand existing challenges and support their expansion by helping to identify expansion space and directing workforce development funding to help build staff capacity and create a pipeline into care careers for entry-level care workers, such as pediatric dental assistants and community-based birth workers.

In Progress

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) collaborates closely with FQHCs to provide funding for programming, including funding community health workers in communities with vaccine hesitancy. ACHD also partners with Partner4Work and the University of Pittsburgh to support the Dental Assistant Apprenticeship program which creates a pipeline for dental professionals, including at Federally-Qualified Health Centers.

Launch a large-scale, community-driven public health campaign to reduce a priority chronic disease in Allegheny County

The county will partner with community members to shape a campaign to educate and engage the public and reduce the impacts and inequities of chronic disease.

In Progress

Update coming soon.

Expand the Hello Baby network of support for families with new babies

The Hello Baby network of support for families with new babies helps meet families’ needs by offering home-visiting programs. Allegheny County nurses meet new parents and their infants, both during pregnancy and postpartum, in the comfort of their own home, or in another location where they will feel at ease to provide support. Home visiting is associated with positive outcomes for both children and families.

 Not Started

Update coming soon.

Increase enrollment in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which offers a variety of health and nutrition services for mothers and children including supplemental nutritious foods and infant formula, immunization screenings, and breastfeeding support. The county has already made it easier to enroll in the WIC program by:

• Inviting residents to sign up at WIC clinics across the county
• Creating a mobile van that travels across the county to promote the WIC program and invite eligible residents to enroll
• Offering online enrollment options

The county will bring onsite enrollment to more existing clinics in the coming year, serving parents and young children in more neighborhoods countywide.

In Progress

ACHD received funding from the Public Health Improvement Fund to launch a WIC mobile unit to increase participation and reduce barriers to access. To serve the number of families eligible for WIC in Allegheny County, ACHD hopes to gradually increase resources put toward the program, including through contracts with birthing facilities.

Support community-based organizations to streamline enrollment in programs and services for consenting community members

Currently, community members seeking support are required to enroll in many different services with different organizations, often providing the same information over and over again. To make it easier for community members, and to support community-based organizations in working together to support residents, the county will partner with community-based organizations to identify ways to streamline enrollment while protecting residents’ privacy and giving them an opportunity to opt in.

In Progress

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) is working to facilitate collaboration across multiple departments and partner organizations to improve identification, enrollment, and tracking for a coordinated referral system.

Expand the effective Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program

The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (R.E.A.C.H.) program is a federally-funded partnership between the ACHD and a diverse coalition of over 25 partners working together to achieve health equity and prevent chronic diseases by increasing access to healthy foods, physical activities, and breastfeeding support and encouragement.

The county will identify additional state and federal resources to expand this program to additional high-need neighborhoods. Over the next five years, the coalition will prioritize improving breastfeeding rates, increasing trail mileage and access to trails to encourage outdoor activities, improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and improving access to vaccination opportunities.

Currently, the program serves residents in:

• • Clairton
  • Duquesne
  • McKeesport
  • North Braddock
  • North Versailles
  • Rankin
  • Wilkinsburg
  • City neighborhoods of North Side, Homewood/Larimer, the Hill District, Garfield, Hazelwood, West End, and the Hilltop

In Progress

There are currently 17 community partners that support the goals for physical activity, nutrition, and vaccination. ACHD is working to expand the funding provided to R.E.A.C.H.

Invest in Racial Equity Fellows joining County government

The Department of Human Services (DHS) recently launched a Racial Equity Fellowship for residents interested in promoting equity and social justice within local government. The Racial Equity Fellows are full-time staff who work closely with department leadership, community leaders, and stakeholders to develop and implement initiatives that address racial disparities and disproportionality within the human services systems. Residents with first-hand experience in overcoming systems were encouraged to apply. The first cohort of 10 fellows is committed to serving through 2025. The county will follow the results of this pilot and will use learnings to consider future expansion.

  Completed

The first cohort of Racial Equity Fellows started and is implementing projects across the county addressing racial disparities and disproportionality within the human services systems through 2025.

Recruit and support more diverse leaders to join the Health Department

Recruiting and supporting more diverse leaders to join the Allegheny County Health Department will help shape and implement public health strategies the county will deliver in the coming years.

In Progress

Update coming soon.

Build on the City of Pittsburgh’s Food Justice Fund

The City of Pittsburgh’s Food Justice Fund, a $3,000,000.00 investment of American Rescue Plan Act, funds and supports grassroots efforts to increase access to fresh food across the city. Once this fund launches, Allegheny County will evaluate the program to assess whether to create a Food Justice Fund for residents across the entire county.

 Not Started

Update coming soon.