PITTSBURGH, PA (December 30, 2021) The Office of Community Health & Safety (OCH&S), created by Mayor William Peduto has developed nationally-recognized partnerships to create a new model of public health and safety.
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Joined CONNECT, Allegheny County Health Department, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, and partners countywide to develop Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in the City of Pittsburgh
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Partnered with Allegheny Health Network’s Urban Health and Street Medicine Program, which worked with more than 700 people through more 4,000 unique interactions and more than 500 Public Safety co-responses and opened the Downtown Community Outreach Hub
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Received American Rescue Plan funding to expand the AHN co-response partnership citywide
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Hired the City’s first Community Social Workers to enhance co-response, high utilizer programming, and victim assistance support
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Supported Mayor Peduto’s executive order decriminalizing the possession, distribution, and use of fentanyl test strips for harm reduction purposes in the City of Pittsburgh
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Started the High Utilizer Program in June, in partnership with Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, to work with individuals with untreated medical issues or high engagement with 911, which included support of 41 people with more than 500 calls to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire via 911
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Expanded the High Utilizer Program in December to work with Pittsburgh EMS to connect people with social and health services
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Awarded technical assistance by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Bureau of Justice Assistance as one of three cities nationally to develop crisis response and intervention teams and entered into a data sharing agreement with University of Cincinnati to improve crisis response
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Worked with more than 800 survivors of crime in the City of Pittsburgh, in partnership with the Office of Community Services & Violence Prevention, to ensure that people had access to services, support, and legal resources
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Initiated the country’s third and Commonwealth’s first prehospital buprenorphine program in partnership with Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to treat individuals experiencing opioid-related withdrawal symptoms or people post-overdose
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Trained more than 300 city staff members (including police recruits, City Law Department, City Parks staff, lifeguards), city authority staff, and Civic Leadership Academy participants to recognize and respond to opioid-related overdoses and incorporated overdose prevention training for all new City of Pittsburgh employees as part of the Human Resources and Civil Service Department’s orientation
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Created the overdose dashboard, in partnership with Pittsburgh EMS, to ensure regular sharing of opioid-related overdose insights
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Worked with Allegheny Health Network, Highmark, Pittsburgh EMS and CitiParks to launch SwimSafe, a program designed to mitigate risks of unintentional injury and death associated with recreational swimming for children, distributing personal floatation devices and resources to more than 200 Pittsburgh families
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Developed the Neighborhood Health & Safety Academy, with support from the Staunton Farm Foundation, to empower residents through series of sessions to discuss services and resources that exist within Pittsburgh; launched community applications. Apply here.
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Launched the Community Health & Safety Listening Campaign to engage with all residents and learn from neighbors how our office and communities can develop and sustain successful services and partnerships [take the survey here]
For more information about OCH&S, reach out to ochspgh@pittsburghpa.gov or find us as www.pittsburghpa.gov/ochs
