On September 3, 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) announced that 540 measles cases have been confirmed across 36 counties in Pennsylvania so far in 2026. PDH continues its robust response to the ongoing measles outbreak and provides Pennsylvanians with updated information on cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

While daily numbers fluctuate, tracking these trends provides Pennsylvanians and health care providers with visibility into community transmission across the Commonwealth and helps inform the Department’s ongoing response.

Key updates include:

• New Positive Cases (since August 31, 2026): 43
• Total Counties: 36
• Total Cumulative Cases: 540
• Total Hospitalizations: 91
• Total Cumulative Measles-Associated Deaths: 2

Pennsylvanians can stay up to date on confirmed measles cases, hospitalizations, deaths, community transmission, and vaccination efforts on PDH’s dashboard: pa.gov/measles.

PDH is proactively working with residents, community organizations and health care providers to combat the measles outbreak in the Commonwealth through access to fact-based information and to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine — and since the outbreak began in late April, state health officials have administered more than 3,700 MMR vaccinations at more than 100 pop-up clinics in affected communities.

Getting vaccinated is the best protection against the measles virus; the vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing measles after two doses.  

On September 2, 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS)  released the 2025 Annual Child Protective Services Report, which provides statewide and county-level data on the Commonwealth’s efforts to protect and help children who were reported as victims of suspected abuse and neglect. 

The report provides an annual look into trends in Pennsylvania’s county-administered, state-supervised child welfare system. PA DHS has been using this data to identify opportunities to strengthen PA DHS’ work with county partners and further support organizations working with families to give children safe, healthy childhoods.  

Pennsylvania’s Child Welfare System
The child welfare system in Pennsylvania is state-supervised and county-administered, which means day-to-day operations are the responsibility of each county with state oversight. PA DHS, through its Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF), oversees this system; all parts of the child welfare system play vital roles in the protection of children.  

Counties in Pennsylvania are generally responsible for all day-to-day child welfare functions. Nearly 3,000 county-employed caseworkers and case supervisors across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties dedicate themselves to ensuring the safety and well-being of the Commonwealth’s children, youth, and families. PA DHS licenses county agencies to provide essential child welfare operations, which includes investigations of potential abuse and neglect, case management services, foster care coordination and monitoring, and other supportive services. County children and youth agencies are responsible for staffing these operations.   

At the state level, PA DHS is responsible for oversight and enforcement of laws, regulations, and policies that guide the provision of child welfare services by each of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania. This includes the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL), which defines child abuse and incidents in which Child Protective Services reports are necessary. PA DHS also provides funding, oversight, and technical assistance to each county children and youth agency.

Report Summary   
Under the CPSL, PA DHS must submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly on child abuse in the Commonwealth. The report provides information on the efforts to protect and help children who were reported as victims of suspected abuse and neglect. 

In 2025, there were a total of 39,486 reports of suspected child abuse, compared to 41,070 reports in 2024. However, the percent of reports of suspected child abuse that were substantiated was 11.6 percent in both 2025 and 2024. In the 2019 Annual Child Abuse Report, prior to Pennsylvania experiencing the impacts of the pandemic, the total number of suspected child abuse reports had been 42,252. 

The 2025 report found that:   
-There were a total of 45 substantiated fatalities in 2025, compared to 60 substantiated in 2024;
-There were a total of 95 substantiated near fatalities in 2025 compared with 82 reported in 2024. 

Addressing Pennsylvania’s Overburdened Child Welfare System 
Pennsylvania’s child welfare system was established to keep our kids safe from abuse and neglect, but it has been overburdened. One especially noteworthy trend was the length of time taken by counties to complete an investigation of alleged child abuse; the number of child protective service (CPS) investigations that took more than 60 days to complete had been increasing at an alarming rate following the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 there were 254 CPS reports investigated in more than 60 days; this increased to 358 reports in 2022 and to 661 reports in 2023. These increases were largely attributed to staffing shortages at the counties.

As a result, the Shapiro Administration focused on two initiatives to support counties and address this workforce challenge. In 2024, PA DHS launched a ‘Recruitment and Retention Workgroup’ and invited the PA Council of Children and Youth Administrators (PCYA) to co-chair the efforts to identify and implement workforce strategies. In 2025, the Shapiro Administration convened workgroups focused on the intergovernmental structure of child welfare as well as on investigations into child fatalities and near-fatalities. The groups identified that Pennsylvania’s child welfare system could be strengthened by connecting parents who have fallen on hard times and need extra help with support services.

At this point in time, overdue outcomes have declined significantly. In 2024, 310 investigations took more than 60 days, and the 2025 report confirmed this trend, with 72 investigations taking more than 60 days. PA DHS will continue to monitor this trend to ensure this number continues to fall. 

In addition the 2026-27 PA budget invests: 
-$658,000 to enhance ChildLine staffing and provide more training to all workers, which will allow caseworkers more time and resources to effectively triage calls before referring them to the counties or appropriate agency. 
-$50 million into the county child welfare system so counties have the resources they need to hold abusers accountable and keep our kids safe. 

Report Child Abuse  
PA DHS operates ChildLine, a 24/7 hotline available to anyone concerned about the welfare of a child to report suspected child abuse; it can be reached at 1-800-932-0313. Mandated reporters can also report to ChildLine electronically.  
Anyone can make a report to ChildLine, and anyone who is not a mandated reporter can make a report to ChildLine anonymously. 
PA DHS encourages all Pennsylvanians to learn more about the signs of potential abuse or neglect and make a report to ChildLine if they begin to suspect abuse or neglect. Signs of potential abuse or neglect can include:   
-Numerous and/or unexplained injuries or bruises;   
-Chronic, pronounced anxiety and expressed feelings of inadequacy;   
-Flinching or an avoidance to being touched;   
-Poor impulse control;  
-Demonstrating abusive behavior or talk;   
-Cruelty to animals or others; and,   
-Fear of parent or caregiver, among others.

Every allegation of child abuse  reported to ChildLine is investigated. ChildLine caseworkers are trained to collect all helpful information from anyone reporting concern for a child’s well-being and to properly refer reports to the appropriate investigating agencies for review, assessment and follow-up, if necessary. Investigating agencies can be county child welfare offices or regional PA DHS offices and, when appropriate, ChildLine also refers reports to local law enforcement agencies.

Pennsylvanians can learn more about the signs of potential abuse at www.keepkidssafe.pa.gov. To report suspected  child abuse, call ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313. 

Click to read the full 2025 Annual Child Protective Services Report on the PA DHS website.

On September 1, 2026, the Pennsylvania Departments of Human Services (DHS) and Corrections, and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) recognized National Suicide Prevention Month and, alongside advocates and crisis response professionals, highlighted the statewide Suicide Prevention Plan. The plan is a two-year, multi-agency action plan aimed at addressing the mental health needs of all Pennsylvanians and decreasing suicide rates in the Commonwealth.

The Suicide Prevention Plan for Pennsylvania, A Culture of Support and Action, is a collaboration of more than a dozen state agencies and the Governor’s Affinity Commissions that outlines shared goals, provides resources for those seeking help with a mental or behavioral health crisis, and highlights Pennsylvania’s alignment with the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.

The Suicide Prevention Plan for Pennsylvania is written by the state Suicide Prevention Task Force. State agencies contributed to the plan by developing goals and action steps specific to the audience they serve. The plan focuses on three shared goals across all agencies:
-Improving access to and use of suicide data, including and especially for populations at increased risk.
-Improving partnerships between the state agencies and other entities engaged in suicide prevention efforts at the state and local levels.
-Increasing efforts to collaborate around suicide risk and protective factors, as part of upstream suicide prevention.

The 2026-27 budget includes $10 million in first-ever dedicated state funding for 988 and the 14 call centers in Pennsylvania that answer calls, texts, and chats for those experiencing a mental health crisis. In 2025 alone, more than 145,000 Pennsylvanians reached out to 988, and more than 90 percent of those calls were resolved over the phone instead of requiring mobile crisis response or a crisis walk-in center.

When Pennsylvanians need somewhere to go, crisis walk-in centers are an essential component of addressing a behavioral health emergency, prioritizing safe and appropriate care for the individual’s circumstances. Emergency behavioral health walk-in crisis centers provide immediate, accessible, and specialized care for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis and provide intensive 24-hour crisis de-escalation and referrals for follow up. This year’s $5 million investment to maintain mental health crisis walk-in centers will prioritize regions with limited access to immediate, in-person care and strengthening collaborations among hospitals, community providers, and local responders.

Message to School Administrators:

The Pennsylvania School Code 24 P.S. § 14-1406(c) requires that public and nonpublic schools receive electronic notice with general information about the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on an annual basis no later than August 15. The attached flyer was created and should be shared with every parent or guardian of every student enrolled in the local education agency (LEA) during the school year.

CHIP covers uninsured children and teens up to age 19 – and no family earns too much to qualify. With nearly 128,000 uninsured children in Pennsylvania, this is great news for families!

CHIP provides quality, comprehensive health insurance for routine doctor’s visits, prescriptions, dental, eye care, eyeglasses, mental health, and much more. CHIP covers uninsured kids who are not eligible for Medical Assistance. For many families, CHIP is free – for others, it is low cost.

CHIP School Flyer 2026 – English

CHIP School Flyer 2026 – Spanish

Please forward the CHIP flyer to each school under your jurisdiction at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year. The flyer can be sent directly through email, posted to a school website with a link distributed to students’ families, printed and distributed with other information that is being sent as caregiver packets, or prepared for students to take home. By distributing the flyer at the beginning of the school year, we help ensure that all students, including those new to your LEA and incoming kindergarten classes, receive the information about the program as soon as possible if they are in need.

The flyer and many more resources can be found on the CHIP website at www.CHIPcoversPAkids.com, under CHIP Resources.

The CHIP program is pleased to partner with LEAs in helping families find affordable health insurance for their children. After all, healthy kids are better students!

Thank you for your assistance in helping families in need find comprehensive health insurance coverage for their children.