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

Governor Shapiro’s proposed SFY25-26 budget includes a $55M recurring investment, accounting for an estimated increase of $1,000.00/educator, for licensed childcare programs participating in the childcare subsidy program.

Through the collective funding of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, supplemented by local funder matching efforts, Partner4Work, Department of Children Initiatives (DCI), and Trying Together organizations are continuing to identify a collective response to issues with job quality and compensation disparity in the childcare industry. Childcare providers are actively co-creating and identifying job quality interventions to implement in their programs with the goal of increased staff retention and job satisfaction.

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

Since July 1, 2024, more than 350 Allegheny County residents enrolled in newly registered apprenticeships or on-the-job training opportunities supported with local workforce development funding.

Partner4Work, Allegheny County’s local workforce development board, is facilitating and supporting the growth and development of a number of registered apprenticeships in high priority industries. The board is working with partners to expand apprenticeship programs in:

• • Manufacturing (5)
  • Construction (2)
  • Technology (3)
  • Healthcare (8)
    • Facilities Maintenance
    • Surgical Technicians
    • LPN to RN pathway

  Partner4Work and Goodwill (a local nonprofit) are now able to support individuals who are receiving SNAP benefits through the PA SNAP JETS (Job Experience and Training Services) workforce program. Individuals receiving SNAP are able to access a range of employment- and training-related services, including job readiness, job placement, and case management support.

  As of spring 2025, the program is accepting new enrollments to connect individuals on SNAP to comprehensive case management, job training and placement, and educational support and opportunities.

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

Steps of the Allegheny Child Care Matters (ACCM) evaluation included conducting focus groups for families and childcare providers to gather insights on family-level impact of participation in the ACCM pilot. Additional families have been enrolled, as funding is available. When the federal poverty income guidelines are updated for 2025, families eligible for Childcare Works will be transitioned and additional families will be enrolled in ACCM.

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

Existing county services include over $15M 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 (approx. $1.7M) 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

CCAC received a Posner Foundation grant to provide free non-credit English as a Second Language (ESL) courses for community members, especially for Hispanic/Latino immigrant communities. CCAC is partnering with community-based organizations including the Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation, Casa San Jose, and Latino Community Center to offer ESL courses onsite for community members ages 12 and up.