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Community Statement
Pulse Report for Children & Families
January 2021
Taking Our Pulse
The goal of the Community Pulse Report is to keep track of a consistent set of indicators as a way of taking the pulse of our community during these difficult times and to further inform policy makers, nonprofit leaders, reporters, and the public in general. The report is organized into four sections:
Our aim is to utilize data that will give us a snapshot of what is happening in the five-county region—Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. Important to the project will be finding data that deepens our understanding of the intersecting disparities in health care, society, and the economy and their impacts on Black and Latino/a/x children and families.
Health & Wellness
Jobs & Financial Assistance
Housing & Utilities
Educational Disruptions & �Child Care
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A Note on Disaggregated Data & Geographies
We are committed to utilizing data that can be disaggregated by race, gender, and age.
In future reports, we will strive to identify proxy indicators where disaggregated data is not available. We will also advocate for the disaggregation of data by race, gender, and age and hope you can join us in that work.
Throughout this report, the geography of analyzed data is noted in the upper left-hand corner of each chart or graph:
United States
Five-County Region (Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, Westmoreland)
County-Specific
Pennsylvania
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Where such data is available, we note that throughout the report with this symbol
Where it is not available, we note with this symbol
What We Are Seeing This Month
Disproportionate Impacts of COVID
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What We Are Seeing This Month
Utilities & Housing
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What We Are Seeing This Month
Impacts of COVID on Education
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From the Field
Feedback and observations from our on-the-ground providers are crucial to understanding the data we are collecting in context.
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Providers are seeing increased need specifically related to the end of the utility and eviction moratoriums.
“We're just doing the best we can with the funding we have, in addition to other programs, to forestall evictions [and utility terminations].”
“We ran out of funding to help with emergency assistance. We are seeing a huge need for emergency assistance to pay for things like rent, utilities, security deposits, etc.”
“Some clients [are] reporting termination of food stamp benefits — renewal/recertification paperwork from PA DHS [was] received late or not at all.”
Top concerns continue to be supporting individuals and families in providing funding for basic needs like housing, food, transportation, and utility assistance.
211 Emergency Basic Needs Requests, 2020
In the five-county region, emergency basic needs requests to 211 in December were the highest they’ve been since April.
Requests were up in every category from November to December.
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Source: PA 211 Counts, phone and text requests only. “Region” includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, and Westmoreland Counties. Notes: Total “Emergency Basic Needs” requests for this analysis exclude tax preparation requests, requests for COVID-19 information, and requests for holiday meals.
211 Requests for Food Support
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The number of 211 requests for food support have continued to increase from September.
December 2020 requests are up 20% from November 2020, and up 99% from December 2019.
Source: Source: PA 211 Counts. “Region” includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, and Westmoreland Counties
Not included in these numbers: November 2020 had an additional 917 requests for holiday food baskets, vs. 278 requests in November 2019.
Cumulative COVID-19 Cases by Race, Allegheny County
The COVID-19 case rate is higher for Black and Asian populations in Allegheny County than the White population.
Disaggregated data is currently not available for every County in the region.
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May Jul Sep Nov Jan
Cumulative Cases per 100K Population
Source: Black COVID-19 Equity Coalition. COVID-19 Data Dashboard developed by the Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab using data from the listed sources. Licensed Under CC. Retrieved on 1.6.21 from https://covid.createlab.org/
Cumulative COVID-19 Deaths by Race, Allegheny County
Death rates from COVID-19 were higher for the Black population in Allegheny County than the White or Asian populations until mid-December.
While cumulative death rates in the county are currently similar across race for White and Black residents, an age-adjusted death rate would likely show significant disparity, given the higher concentration of older adults among the White population. Unfortunately, that data is not currently available.
Disaggregated data is currently not available for every County in the region.
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May Jul Sep Nov Jan
Source: Black COVID-19 Equity Coalition. COVID-19 Data Dashboard developed by the Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab using data from the listed sources. Licensed Under CC. Retrieved on 1.6.21 from https://covid.createlab.org/
Cumulative COVID-19 Deaths per 100K Population
Disparities in COVID-19
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3x
Black & Latino/a/x Americans face COVID-19 death rates almost 3x that of White Americans.
Source: CDC
COVID-19 Vaccinations
In the five-county region, 56,000
people have been vaccinated.*
While some facilities are collecting and reporting data on race/ethnicity, there are still many unreported instances. Local advocacy groups working with Dr. Levine are actively addressing this issue.
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*As of 1/15/21. **As of 12/31/20. Pennsylvania residents who receive a vaccination from a clinic located in Philadelphia county, a federal facility, or in another state are not included in this data.
Percent of Vaccinations in Pennsylvania,
by Recipient’s Race**
Unknown
White
Black
Asian (<1%)
Other
4%
2%
Senior Isolation Index
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The “senior isolation index,” developed out of Penn State’s Institute of State & Regional Affairs and the Pennsylvania Population Network, assigns a score from 1 to 100 to each county in Pennsylvania. A score of “1” indicates that the senior population has a low risk for isolation, and a score of “100” indicates that the senior population has a high risk for isolation.
The index is based on 11 indicators:
• Living in poverty
• Burdened with housing cost
• Living alone
• Widowed and/or divorced
• Recently moved
• Experiencing food insecurity
• No vehicle
• No computer or internet access
• Living with disability
• Limited English
• Experiencing poor mental health
Senior Isolation Index, Five-County Region
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Seniors are an already vulnerable population, and measures put in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 can also exacerbate issues of isolation among older adults.
KEY
Highest risk �of isolation
Lowest risk �of isolation
1
100
Impacts on Women’s Employment
The US lost a net of 140,000 jobs in December. Cumulatively, men gained 16,000 jobs and women lost 156,000 jobs.
Black and Latina women continue to face disproportionately high levels of unemployment.
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156,000 jobs lost
16,000
jobs gained
December Unemployment Rates
Women Overall
Black Women
Latina Women
Source: National Women's Law Center
Jobs Gained
Public Health Risk of Evictions
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Source: Bloomberg City Lab
1 death
for every
60 evictions
Modeling by Michael Levy, an epidemiologist at Penn State University, shows that there could be approximately
Besides the hardships for families, evictions are a public health risk. Because evictions often lead to tenants moving in with other family members, viral transmission of COVID-19 becomes more likely.
211 Housing Support Requests
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In the five-county region, housing requests continue to rise. December saw a sharp increase in already-high requests.
Source: Source: PA 211 Counts. “Region” includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, and Westmoreland Counties
All Housing Requests, 2020
All Housing Requests, 2019
211 Housing Support Requests
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Besides an overall increase in requests for housing supports, there was an increase of requests in every single category from November to December.
Sources: PA 211 Counts. “Region” includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Fayette, and Westmoreland Counties
+36%
+1%
+13%
+35%
+27%
+10%
Overall increase in all housing-related 211 requests of 27%.
November to December, 2020, Five-County Region
November 2020
December 2020
Utility Crisis: Pennsylvania
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Greater flexibility on payment plans, caps on late fees, and expansion of programs like LIHEAP can help to mitigate some of the risk of mounting debt and uninhabitable homes for families.
The upcoming federal stimulus is expected to provide $853 million in rent and utility assistance to PA households.
more than �$721 million
in debt is owed by PA customers to utility providers
almost 1 million
Pennsylvanians are at risk of losing electricity, heat, or indoor plumbing
Source: The Morning Call
Utility Crisis: Pittsburgh Region
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11,000
households
had unpaid Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority bills at the end of November 2020, twice as many as last year
nearly 3x
as many customers were behind on their Peoples Gas bills compared to a year ago
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
for residential customers at West Penn Power, the amount owed increased by nearly 50%
between November 2019 and November 2020
Impacts of Remote Learning
Remote learning disproportionately affects students of color and those in high-poverty communities, deepening long-standing inequities in K-12 education.
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Sources: McKinsey & Co.| Washington Post
White students
More Black students do not have access to a live teacher.
8%
Remote learning privileges children who have quiet places to work, parents at home, and reliable access to internet.
Not all students have a device to access remote school work.
Black students
15%
White students
93%
Black students
89%
Impacts of Remote Learning
Rates of failing grades have gone up the most for students who are Black and Latino/a/x, from low-income families, and English-language learners; as well as for students with disabilities.
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Sources: McKinsey & Co.| Washington Post
1-3 months behind
White students
Students are falling behind.
3-5 months behind
Students of color
and thus missing out on support services. There was a 28% decrease in the number of identified students experiencing homelessness in the fall of 2020 compared to 2019.
Students experiencing homelessness are being underidentified
Kindergarten Enrollment, Five-County Region
Kindergarten enrollment in the five-county region’s public schools declined 8.4% from last school year to this school year.
Around 1,500 children who were not enrolled this year could be enrolling next year instead, adding approximately 71 new classes for the 2021-22 school year.
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School Year
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2020-2021 numbers are based on PRELIMINARY data
Change in Kindergarten Enrollment, by County
Every county in the five-county region has seen a decline in Kindergarten enrollment this school year.
Allegheny and Butler counties had three straight years of growth prior to this year. Both Armstrong & Fayette saw declines this year that were greater than 12%.
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Percent Change in Enrollment
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2020-2021 numbers are based on PRELIMINARY data
Impacts on Higher Education
College enrollment immediately following high school declined by 22% from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020, with community college enrollment dropping the most, by 30.3%.
Declines in enrollment were larger among students at urban, high-poverty, and high-minority schools.
College application rates were also down this fall, with larger drops seen from Hispanic, low-income, and first-generation students. (Washington Post)
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Change in Immediate College Enrollment, Fall 2019 to Fall 2020
NOTE: Updated data from National Student Clearinghouse revises these numbers.
More Information & Previous Reports
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Report developed and designed by Fourth Economy.