DHS Funding

Counties manage the Behavioral HealthChoices program, which is Medicaid-funded Managed Care for behavioral health. This funding is often termed “the carve out” since these Medicaid dollars for behavioral health services are managed separately from the same funding for physical health services (which is managed by the state). With this funding, Allegheny County DHS is responsible for ensuring high-quality care and timely access to appropriate mental health and drug and alcohol services, and to facilitate effective coordination with other needed services.

Most Behavioral HealthChoices program funding is contracted out to a behavioral health managed care organization (BH-MCO) to pay for treatment services. Allegheny County DHS contracts with UPMC Community Care as its BH-MCO.

Allegheny County DHS also retains some administrative dollars from this funding, which cover the costs incurred for BH-MCO oversight and monitoring. Allegheny County DHS is also able to utilize program savings for ‘risk and contingency’ (to protect against insolvency) and for ‘reinvesting’ in the behavioral health system – by providing start-up and brick-and-mortar capital to new projects and by addressing social determinants of health (like housing) for HealthChoices members.

The PA Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) allocates state and federal dollars to Allegheny County DHS for child protection, as well as prevention and family preservation. (A portion of this allocation also supports detention, placements, and services for delinquent youth, overseen by Allegheny County Courts and Juvenile Probation). This allocation is determined through the annual Needs-Based Plan and Budget Process, which provides an opportunity for Allegheny County to seek additional resources to meet child and family needs.

The allocation from PA OCYF includes state Act 148 as well as federal Title IVE, IVB, SSBG, TANF, and Medical Assistance dollars. It also includes Special Grants awarded for Housing, Truancy, EBPs and Promising Practices; the Independent Living grant for Transition Age Youth (former foster youth, in particular); and the IT Grant.

The Human Services Block Grant is the most flexible funding source available to Allegheny County DHS, offering opportunities to shift funds between categories that include:

• County Mental Health Base covers BH treatment for the un- and under-insured, and programs not currently reimbursable via Medicaid or private insurance like housing for people with serious mental illness.
• Act 152 Drug and Alcohol Services (D&A) supports the provision of inpatient non-hospital withdrawal management and rehabilitation services to recipients of Medical Assistance (MA).
• Intellectual Disabilities Community Base Funded Services (ID) covers the administration of Intellectual and developmental disability services, including eligibility determination and referral.
• Homeless Assistance Program (HAP) covers eviction prevention, rental assistance, and emergency shelter.
• Human Services Development Fund (HSDF) provides the most flexibility, offering Counties an opportunity to meet locally identified service needs. 

Allegheny County DHS receives competitively awarded funds through the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) to support its operation of the Region 5 Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC).

ELRCs provide a single point-of-contact for families, early learning service providers, and communities to gain information and access services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs. State and federal funding managed by the ELRC primarily supports subsidized child care to help low-income families pay their child care fees (i.e., Child Care Works). Additionally, ELRC funding provides support for improving child care programs’ quality. Allegheny County DHS partners with The Alliance for Infants and Toddlers and Trying Together to operate ELRC services. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) allocates funds to Allegheny County DHS’s Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) through the Aging Block Grant, which supports home and community-based services, nutrition, senior employment, transportation, domiciliary care, ombudsman, caregiver support, and protective services for older adults 60 and above.

The Aging Block Grant includes Regular Block Grant, State Caregiver Support Program (SCSP), Federal Caregiver Support Program (FCSP), Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP), Pennsylvania Medicare Education and Decision Insight (PA Medi), Health Promotion, and other categorical funds.

PDA is funded with federal and lottery dollars, with no General Funds attributed to it, and, as a result of the recent Intrastate Funding Formula change, Allegheny County’s PDA allocation was reduced. Unfortunately, this is making it harder to meet the needs of Allegheny County’s rapidly growing aging population and to resolve serious staff shortages faced by the AAA and its provider agencies.

Allegheny County DHS receives funding directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through is Continuum of Care (CoC) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs.

The CoC Program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness by providing funding for rental assistance and supportive services, delivered by governments and nonprofit community based providers. As the designated United Funding Agency (UFA) and Infrastructure Organization (IO) for Allegheny County’s CoC, Allegheny County DHS applies for, receives, and distributes HUD funding for all projects in the CoC.

The ESG Program is designed to assist people with quickly regaining stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. ESG is a formula grant program and Allegheny County receives a direct entitlement from HUD as an urban county.

As the designated Single County Authority (SCA), Allegheny County DHS receives state and federal dollars through its contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) to plan, coordinate, programmatically and fiscally manage, and implement the delivery of drug and alcohol prevention, intervention and treatment services to respond to the needs at the local level.