Advocate to increase wages for childcare and out-of-school time workers

Governor Shapiro has already taken several steps to support the childcare workforce and begin increasing reimbursement rates for childcare providers. To deliver on the community priority of “increase pay for childcare workers, so we can hire the workforce needed to serve the families of Allegheny County,” the county will make it a priority to advocate for additional state and federal investments to support the childcare and out-of-school time workforce. The county will also explore how other local governments have improved recruitment and retention, including a recent example from Kentucky that made childcare free for childcare workers, raising their take-home pay, and potentially attracting others to the field.

In Progress

Partner4Work, the Allegheny County Department of Children Initiatives (DCI), and Trying Together are collectively funded through a National Fund for Workforce Solutions grant with local funder match, to identify a collective response to issues with job quality, including compensation, in the childcare industry. By creating the linkage between the workforce development system and the childcare system in the region, policy changes can be implemented from both sides to help address the issue.

Further, the county intends to develop shared language between the early learning and the workforce development systems to provide meaningful, actionable steps to build a system where all early learning jobs are good jobs.

Connect more residents to paid training programs for good-paying jobs in growing industries by:

• • Expanding Community College of Allegheny County’s (CCAC) industry-sponsored Fellowship and Apprenticeship Programs. The Fellowship Programs offer paid training programs to approximately 30-40 students per year and about 75-100 employees looking for additional training and upskilling per year. Apprenticeship programs include those sponsored by local union partners, serving 1,200 students, and programs such as multimedia communications, mechatronics, facilities maintenance technology, and building automation systems. The county will support this expansion by partnering with local businesses and encouraging them to recruit talent from CCAC’s strong pipeline of job training and education programs.
  • Making it easier to find job-training programs by regularly promoting CCAC’s Career Services & Job Readiness programs through the county’s public education channels, such as social media and newsletters. CCAC offers various job readiness programs, including resume reviews, class presentations on job search topics, individual appointments, workshops, mock interviews, and employer events to approximately 2,900 students at CCAC’s four campuses and three centers every year. CCAC also offers job placement services that help students get skills and credentials for in-demand jobs in just a few months.
  • Prioritizing budgeting for the following programs that provide pathways for good jobs to expand the county’s internship program and invest additional resources in Learn and Earn, a youth summer workforce program, which provides low-income youth with paid employment experience, work readiness training, and financial literacy.

  Completed

New apprenticeships for EV Automotive Technicians and Surgical Technicians have been registered within Pennsylvania. Partner4Work has funded a suite of industry-recognized training programs, which connect job seekers with training and employment. On-the-job training opportunities and individual training accounts are also available at PA CareerLink.

Seek funding to increase access to childcare/early learning for families who may not be eligible for the Child Care Works subsidy or other publicly funded programs and still need childcare by:

• • Expanding subsidized childcare support, including specific support for working families who make more than Childcare Works eligibility, and still cannot afford child care. The program currently supports around 400 children and has the potential to cover up to 15,000 children if fully funded.
  • Expanding short-term, crisis, or respite childcare for parents in unpaid job training or who need medical treatments or other services. Current investment in Jeremiah’s Place provides approximately 10-15 seats per day, with overnight care available. The Department of Human Services (DHS) has piloted small-scale solutions such as purchasing childcare spots from providers, though demand now outweighs small-scale investments.
  • Providing childcare for high-risk families including those participating in Hello Baby. DHS currently subsidizes childcare for high-risk families who express a need, and additional funding creates opportunities to support more families.

In Progress

On January 10, 2024, County Executive Innamorato committed $500,000.00 to increase the number of children served through the Allegheny Child Care Matters (ACCM) subsidized childcare program. The Department of Children Initiatives (DCI) secured philanthropic support to conduct a formal evaluation to clearly articulate the impact and outcomes of a subsidized childcare pilot on families who meet the work and education requirements for the Childcare Works, yet are over the income limit.

Seek funding to increase access to out-of-school programming for school-age children, including summer programs

Existing county services include over $15,000,000.00 in annual investments, serving over 8,000 children each year. Funding covers a school-community summer program partnership that supports ~1,200 school-age children across 14 school-community organizations. Additional resources could
support:

• • Expanding the school-community summer program partnerships pilot to all 43 public
    school districts in Allegheny County through planning and operations grants
  • Adding additional county contracts for more free and low-cost programming

In Progress

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has submitted a needs-based plan and budget request to the state that includes a request for a significant increase (approximately $1,700,000.00) the capacity of of students served.

The Department of Children Initiatives (DCI) committed funds for a second cohort of its School-Community Summer Program Partnerships funding opportunity and is seeking additional financial support to allow for broader access.

Ensure CCAC’s job training programs meet the needs of immigrant communities

By inviting representatives from immigrant communities to join the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) Advisory Group to help shape curricula and training programs, CCAC will also deepen partnerships with community-based organizations that serve immigrant communities and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

In Progress

To ensure CCAC’s job training programs meet the needs of immigrant communities, key CCAC promotional materials (the CCAC Viewbook, We Are Here, and At a Glance brochures, as well as the Tuition & Fee guide, and New Student checklist) have been translated into nine of the region’s most widely spoken foreign languages. All the editions are available electronically, with printed editions available in Spanish. Translations include:

• • Spanish
  • Portuguese
  • Arabic
  • Nepali
  • Dari
  • Mandarin
  • Russian
  • Uzbek
  • French