Create an Information Technology (IT) Steering Committee

Regularly convened by the County Executive’s Office, which includes the leadership of numerous departments and the IT and data teams, this steering committee will support a streamlined and consistent approach to making online information and data open and accessible to the public.

  Completed

The Allegheny County IT Steering Committee has been successfully established, bringing together strategic representatives from the Department of Information Technology (DIT), County Manager’s Office, Budget and Finance, Law Department, Human Services, and rotating department heads. Meeting monthly, the committee ensures that IT resources are strategically managed and aligned with county-wide objectives.

Create a new information hub on the County’s website to provide clear, accessible information about:

• • Services the county provides, with information about how to access each service, delivering on the top-ranked community priority of “creating a simple website that makes it easy to figure services out and contact someone to help access the service”
  • Powers of county government, including a new interactive tool on the county’s budget that will make it easy to ask questions about how resources are allocated, delivering on the community priority of “providing easy-to-understand information about the budget and decisions”
  • Information about the powers of municipal governments, including how to contact local representatives for help navigating service processes
  • A new tool that will help residents understand their county taxes and the tax credits and abatements for which they qualify

 In Progress 

Update coming soon.

Create an option to enroll in a text program within the information hub

Residents will have the opportunity to enroll in text messages for information and updates about getting involved in shaping county policies and priorities. The messaging platform will support ongoing engagement with residents and share opportunities to get involved, such as through invitations to community meetings, short surveys, or notifications about upcoming public budget hearings.

 In Progress 

As part of its most recent website redesign, Allegheny County implemented Granicus’ OpenCities as its content management system (CMS). The OpenCities tool offers low-code/no-code website solutions that are built to meet the unique needs of governments and the communities they serve. The Office of Marketing and Special Events, which manages the Allegheny County website, has been the key stakeholder implementing GovDelivery, an integrated digital communications system that is part of the OpenCities suite of products. 

Launch a participatory budgeting program with young residents, in partnership with the County’s Learn and Earn program

The County Executive will invite a cohort of young people to set forth proposals and ideas about how $50,000.00 will be spent in the next county budget.

  Completed

Allegheny County’s first youth congress convened as a participatory budgeting pilot program, in partnership with Partner4Work and the Learn and Earn program, in June 2024. Participatory budgeting is a democratic process in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. It gives people real power over real money, thus deepening democracy, building stronger communities, and creating a more equitable distribution of public resources.

The innagural cohort of youth congress participants was given decision-making power over $50,000.00 for a project of their choice. A second cohort is expected to participate in youth congress in summer 2025, in partnership with Learn and Earn.

Reduce barriers to and improve efficiency of accessing digital services across County departments

Currently, visitors to the county website often need to create multiple accounts and enter the same information multiple times to access different services offered by different departments. To make it easier and faster for residents to access what they need, the county will work toward a universal digital account system – so residents can create one account and enter information just once and unlock access to all digital services across departments.

 In Progress 

Significant foundational work has been completed toward implementing a universal digital account system. An inventory of digital services has been created across county departments to identify where duplication of user data entry occurs.

A high-level multi-year roadmap has been developed that outlines four strategic phases to address the consolidation and ease-of-access for user accounts:

1. 1. Governance and Assessment
   2. Vendor Selection and Architecture
   3. Rollout and Migration
   4. Consolidation and Optimization

Invite the 10 counties in Southwest Pennsylvania and United Way, the organization that operates the 211 hotline, to work together to strengthen and streamline the 211 hotline user experience.

The 211 hotline provides a vast range of helpful information to residents, including help connecting to social and housing services. The county will invite its 211 implementation
partners to work together to:

• • Encourage residents to text 211, the quickest way to get answers and help
  • Explore adding new features such as an option to receive a call back instead of waiting
  • Explore creating searchable case numbers so residents can follow up on and track their
    requests

 In Progress 

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is partnering with United Way’s PA 211 Southwest to serve as the front door to human services in Allegheny County. DHS has invested in additional staffing to lower call wait times, maintain the 211 resource database, and improve 211 staff training on Allegheny County resources. Through the partnership, 211 has strengthened its resource directory, expanded staff training on key Allegheny County resources, and set up closed-loop referral processes to get callers routed more quickly to the help they need.