News

June 30, 2020

Child Care Providers: Share Your Successes & Challenges

To better understand the success and challenges child care providers are experiencing as they operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) released a brief survey that providers can complete to share their experiences. Child care providers are encouraged to complete this survey by Wednesday, July 8, 2020.

About

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has had significant impacts on the child care provider community. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is interested in understanding the success and challenges child care providers are experiencing as they operate during the pandemic. One strategy they are using to collect information is a brief monthly survey on staffing and enrollment.

While the survey is voluntary, OCDEL encourages every child care operator to participate. OCDEL will issue the same survey at the end of June, July, August, and September to compare and analyze changes.

Take the Survey

To share your successes and challenges, complete the survey today!

News

June 25, 2020

Join Providers Across PA to Tell Your Story

On Tuesday, June 30, child care providers across Pennsylvania are participating in a day-long, story sharing event on social media to increase attention on child care and its importance as a community resource and economic driver. 

About

Governor Tom Wolf and the General Assembly authorized the spending of stimulus funds to support early learning programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even once all those funds are distributed, they are not enough. 

With diminished enrollment, scarcity of staff, unpaid bills, and no clear picture of what tomorrow will bring, many child care providers still do not know if their business will survive. We need the federal government to allocate more funding to support child care programs so they can weather this crisis.

To gain these urgently needed funds, stories from child care providers, early educators, and families are essential. Stories can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 30. 

We want to be sure that as many people as possible–especially our elected officials–understand that the child care crisis is not over and without child care there is no recovery! Alert your network of friends, families, and staff to look out for your story and like, share, and/or retweet it. 

How to Share

  1. Prepare your story ahead of time so that you can easily post or tweet during the event. 
  2. You can use your answers to the questions on this Google form to help create your draft. 
  3. Pictures are encouraged to help others see the real people affected by this crisis!

Sharing on Twitter: 

  • Break your story down into a thread of 280 characters.  
  • Click the blue “Tweet” button in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
  • Type out the first tweet of your thread. 
  • Press the + button in the lower right hand corner of your Tweet composition window, and a new space will appear for you to add a second tweet.
  • In the final tweet of the thread, include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) and Senator Bob Casey (@SenCasey).

Sharing on Facebook:  

  • From the top of your News Feed, click What’s on your mind, [Name]?
  • Add a text update or click the type of post you would like to share (example: Photo/Video, Feeling/Activity).
  • Posts can be up to 63,206 characters so you have plenty of room, however, longer posts get cut off in a user’s feed, forcing them to expand the text if they want to read the full story. 
  • At the end of your post include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and tag @SenatorBobCasey and @SenatorToomey

Sharing on Instagram:

  • Tap + at the bottom of the screen.
  • Take a photo or video or choose one from your phone’s library.
  • Tap Next. You can also add effects or filters.
  • Tap Next again, and then tap Write a caption
  • Enter your caption and tap OK > Share (iPhone) or Share (Android).
  • In your caption include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and tag @senbobcasey and @senpattoomey

More Information

Questions? Please contact Cristina Codario at cristina@tryingtogether.org.  

News

June 18, 2020

In-Person Operations to Resume July 6

Office Reopening

On July 6, Trying Together will reopen its physical office spaces to the public by appointment at the following location:

ELRC Region 5

Out of an abundance of caution with the rising COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County, ELRC Region 5 and its satellite offices will remain closed to the public for in-person services. Staff will continue to provide high-quality customer service via phone and video conferencing. Additional details about resuming in-person operations will be announced on Monday, August 3.

Operations During COVID-19

Staff will be required to follow guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including wearing a mask while walking through or working in communal spaces, socially distancing themselves from others by at least six feet at all times, sanitizing their workspaces regularly, and maintaining proper handwashing and sanitizing. Locations and departments may have limited in-office staff as some employees continue to telework.

Trying Together staff are still accessible via phone or email as they continue to work remotely. After July 6, appointments are required for families and professionals interested in accessing services and support at Trying Together’s physical locations. In-person operations will continue to be dependent on recommendations provided by Governor Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Trying Together will continue to monitor these recommendations as well as the reopening status of Allegheny County. For questions about our operations, please email info@tryingtogether.org.

More Information

For more information about COVID-19 and prevention tips, visit our COVID-19 page. For questions related to COVID-19, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s website or call 1.877.PA.HEALTH (1.877.724.3258). See the ELRC Region 5 news post for essential updates for early educators and families in Allegheny County in response to COVID-19. 

News

June 17, 2020

Pittsburgh Families Invited to Receive Free Children’s Books

Since the City of Pittsburgh’s Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library launch in February 2019, the program has grown to include over 3,200 local children and recently sent its 30,000th book. Thanks to funding received from the Hillman Family Foundation and McCauley Ministries, the program will continue to sustain and grow services in Pittsburgh.

About the Program

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a free program for any child who lives in the City of Pittsburgh age zero to five to receive one book a month in the mail until their fifth birthday. When they turn five, they will have their own library of up to 60 books.

The City of Pittsburgh’s program is affiliated with the national initiative started by music legend Dolly Parton. Participating children will begin receiving books through the U.S. Postal Services approximately eight weeks after the registration form has been received.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the program, preschoolers must:

  • be a resident of the City of Pittsburgh,
  • have a parent or guardian fill out an official registration form, and
  • notify the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania of any address changes.

Registration

To sign up for this program, register your child(ren) online via the Imagination Library website!

Interested in mailing in or submitting your registration in person? See their webpage for more details.

More Information

For any questions, please contact Tiffini Simoneaux at tiffini.simoneaux@pittsburghpa.gov or 412.255.2505. To view the booklist, visit the Imagination Library website.

News

June 16, 2020

Allegheny Child Care Tool Expands Services

Are you interested in learning about child care, after-school, out-of-school, and summer programs in Allegheny County? Visit the Allegheny Child Care website to search for available child care spots at programs near you!

What is Allegheny Child Care?

Allegheny Child Care is a unique pilot project that has been developed to support the child care needs of families. Through this online tool, parents and caregivers can search for available child care spots at all Allegheny County early learning programs, including after-school, out-of-school, and summer camps. To search for a program near you, visit the Allegheny Child Care website!

Information for Early Learning Professionals

If your organization provides child care, after-school, out-of-school, and/or summer programming, update your listing as soon as possible on the Allegheny Child Care website. By updating your information, the Allegheny Child Care tool will assist you in promoting and marketing your program(s) to families. In turn, this will allow your program to expedite the process of getting children enrolled, thus making an often stressful task less burdensome for families.

For questions or concerns, please read the FAQ guide or email info@alleghenychildcare.org.

Additional Resources

Trying Together developed the following resources to assist families in identifying high-quality early learning programs, as well as what questions to ask to better understand their program’s COVID-19 procedures.

For additional support in finding child care and/or funding your child care needs, visit the Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region 5 website or call 412.350.3577.

More Information

The Allegheny Child Care initiative is managed by Trying Together in partnership with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, and Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time (APOST, an initiative of the United Way of Southwestern PA); with additional support from the City of Pittsburgh; and was developed in collaboration with Child Care Aware of AmericaThe Heinz Endowments, and technology partners BowtieBrightHive, and BridgeCare.

To learn more and search for programs near you, visit the Allegheny Child Care website.

News

June 12, 2020

Allegheny Child Care is Growing

As of this week, we are excited to announce that we have expanded the Allegheny Child Care search tool to include: after-school; out-of-school; and summer programs! If you provide one or more of these services and have not already confirmed your information, we ask that you update your listing as soon as possible at providers.alleghenychildcare.org.

Promote Your Out of School & Summer Programs Now

If your program re-opened as part of Allegheny County’s move to the “green phase” last week, we hope that your first week back has been a welcomed return for you and your children, families, and staff.

By updating your information, the Allegheny Child Care tool will assist you in promoting and marketing your program(s) to families. In turn, this will allow you to expedite the process for getting children enrolled, thus making an often stressful task less burdensome for families especially at this time. If you have any questions or issues please:

Thank you for your assistance.

Updating Your Information

In order to add the after-school, out-of-school, and summer-time programs to the platform, we pulled public data currently available from our partners at Allegheny Partners for Out of School Time (APOST) and United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

As information may have changed due to COVID-19, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to review the information listed for your program(s) on the platform and then updating it accordingly at providers.alleghenychildcare.org.

In particular, please update your:

  • current operational status (open/closed and availability);
  • age group(s) served; and
  • basic profile information.

You will receive regular email reminders to update your vacancy information so parents searching for care can find your program.

More Information

From the COVID-19 crisis, Allegheny Child Care is a unique pilot project that has been developed to support the child care needs of families. Caregivers and parents of young children can now search available child care spots at Allegheny County early learning programs in real-time with the Allegheny Child Care tool.

News

June 10, 2020

Citiparks Offers Take-Home Literacy and Math Camp Program

From June 15 to July 24, Citiparks will be offering CitiCamp@Home, a six-week program for families that offers weekly take-home STEM/STEAM projects, games, giveaways, and chances to win prizes.

About

Families are invited to join Citiparks lead explorer Caterina as she guides explorers through summertime urban adventures! Through conveniently packaged To-Go Kits, families will gain access to everything they need to create great projects that include built-in literacy and math components.

Additional resources will be provided by WQED, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Carlow University Education Department, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and UPMC Children’s Hospital.

Pick Up Locations

Kits will be available at the Citiparks Summer Grab & Go locations listed below starting Monday, June 15 on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you are not able to participate in the Summer Food program but would like to play along, printable materials will also be available on the Citiparks website.

More Information

For more information, read the full press release or call 412.665.3665.

Share this flyer with your network.

News

June 4, 2020

Taking Personal and Professional Responsibility for Anti-Racism Work

As caregivers, community members, and early childhood educators, we have a responsibility to ensure each child, family and caregiver is safe from racism and discrimination and has equitable opportunities to thrive.

In order to do this, we must begin with ourselves. Set aside time in your day to do a personal inventory. What thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have you contributed to upholding systems of racism? What assumptions are you making? What actions or inactions have you taken that contribute to systems of oppression?

Next, consider your family and your friends—what behaviors, statements, or jokes have gone unchecked? What actions or inactions have you taken within your interpersonal relationships that have contributed to an unsafe community for our black and brown children, neighbors and colleagues? How might you begin to lead by example within your own family or community?

Anti-racism work is something that has to be attended to an ongoing way. In order to support you in this work, we have compiled a new webpage of resources to combat racism.

Learn More with Upcoming Discussions

News

Questions for Your Early Learning Provider During COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, early learning programs across Pennsylvania are adding new operating procedures (as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) to maintain the health and safety of their staff and the families they serve. To help parents and caregivers better understand these changes, Trying Together developed a Family Checklist that features questions families can ask their early learning providers.

Access the Checklist

The Family Checklist features fifteen questions caregivers can ask, including questions on how programs plan to communicate with families, meet the developmental needs of children, implement health screenings, and more. To see the full list of questions, view the Family Checklist: Questions for Your Early Learning Provider During COVID-19. [En Español]

Additional Resources

In addition to the Family Checklist, Trying Together developed the following news posts to answer common questions and highlight resources for families, caregivers, and early learning professionals:

More Information

For more information about COVID-19 and to view current case counts in Pennsylvania, please visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health website. To view current guidance for child care programs that remain open, please visit the CDC website.

News

June 2, 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

As of June 9, 2020 at 12 p.m., the Pennsylvania Department of Health has stated that there are 76,436 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Commonwealth, including 2,027 positive cases in Allegheny County. For a full breakdown of affected counties, visit health.pa.gov.

While positive cases have been confirmed, it’s important for community members to remain calm and take precautionary measures to reduce your likelihood of infection.


COVID-19 Resources

To best support these community members and the young children in their lives, Trying Together has created two resource lists, featuring helpful resources that families and educators can use to maneuver this difficult time. Click the links below for more COVID-19 information.


Guidance for Pennsylvanians

As of June 5, there are 33 counties in the yellow phase and 34 counties in the green phase of reopening. On Friday, June 12 at 12:01 a.m., 12 counties currently in the yellow phase will be moving into the green phase. For information about work, congregate setting, and social restrictions, please review Governor Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania.

Counties in the Green Phase

Counties in the green phase of reopening include the following: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Bradford, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Potter, Snyder, Somerset, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango, Warren, Washington, and Westmoreland.

Counties in the Yellow Phase

Counties in the yellow phase of reopening include the following: Adams, Beaver, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne, Wyoming, and York.


What is COVID-19?

According to the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), “COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new coronavirus not previously seen in humans.” While this strain of coronavirus is new, coronaviruses are actually a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others circulating among animals, including camels, cats, and bats. While it is rare for animal coronaviruses to infect people who are exposed to infected animals, it has happened in the past as seen with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

Symptoms

As COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, common symptoms of infection include fever, dry cough, tiredness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. However, WHO states that some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, and diarrhea. After being infected with COVID-19, individuals generally display mild symptoms that begin gradually, but some people who become infected may not develop any symptoms at all and may feel healthy.

80 percent of the individuals who become infected recover from the disease without needing special treatment. However, one out of every six people who get COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing. Elderly individuals, immunocompromised individuals, and individuals with underlying medical conditions such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney diseases, hepatitis B, and cancer are particularly at risk of developing serious illness if infected with COVID-19. Because of this, it’s important to limit possible contamination and reduce the spread of the virus.

Currently, there are no vaccines or medications approved to prevent or treat COVID-19 and reported illnesses have ranged from mild to severe cases, including illness resulting in death. However, possible vaccines and drug treatments are currently being investigated through clinical trials.

How It Spreads

COVID-19 spreads through person-to-person contact (within about six feet) or by touching your mouth, nose, or eyes after coming into contact with surfaces that have been contaminated with respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. WHO states that “studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days.”

The risk of getting infected by COVID-19 depends on where you are and if there is an outbreak currently happening in that area. Individuals living in or visiting cities or areas that are experiencing an outbreak have a higher risk of becoming infected. There is a higher risk of infection and serious complications for elderly individuals, immunocompromised individuals, and individuals with underlying medical conditions. With this, WHO states that it’s important to “comply with any local restrictions on travel, movement, or large gatherings” and to cooperate with disease control efforts to reduce your risk and potential spread.

How to Protect Yourself and Others

Currently, the most effective ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to protect both yourself and others against infection are to:

    • avoid touching your face, nose, and mouth;
    • if water and soap are not available, sanitize your hands regularly with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol;
    • clean and disinfect commonly used items and frequently touched surfaces such as the items listed above with household cleaners and EPA-registered disinfectants that are appropriate for the surface, following the label directions appropriately;
    • practice social distancing from others, especially avoiding individuals who are exhibiting symptoms, coughing, or sneezing;
    • wear a face mask when shopping at essential businesses, visiting your health care provider, on public transportation, interacting with others at essential business, and when feeling sick, coughing, or sneezing; and
    • comply with any local restrictions and recommendations on travel, movement, or large gatherings.

Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website for more information on how to properly clean and disinfect the areas around you. While this resource is primarily intended for individuals and households with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, hygienic practices can help reduce the spread of the virus. Watch this video for proper handwashing techniques.

Resource for At-Risk Individuals

The CDC also has a resource highlighting precautions and preparation tips for individuals at risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19, such as elderly individuals, immunosuppressed individuals, and individuals with underlying medical conditions. Visit the CDC website to learn more. 

What to Do After Infection

If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath, please stay at home and contact your primary care provider to determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19. If you are in Allegheny County, do not have a primary care provider, and are not sure if you need to be tested, please contact the Allegheny Health Department at 412.687.2243. If you need to seek immediate medical care, please call 911 or phone ahead before going to a doctor’s office or emergency department to ensure staff at these locations have time to prepare for your arrival.

If an infection is confirmed, health care professionals will assess whether the infected individual needs to be hospitalized or if they can be cared for at home in mandatory quarantine. If isolated at home, infected individuals will be monitored by staff from their local or state health department.

Until a healthcare provider says that you or the infected person can return to their normal activities, the CDC states that infected and potentially infected individuals should follow the following preventive measures:

    • stay at home except to get medical care (do not go to school, work, or public areas and avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxi services);
    • separate yourself from other people and animals in your home as much as possible, if possible;
    • if you must care for others or your pet while sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with them and wear a face mask;
    • call ahead before visiting your doctor, as they need to take steps to prepare to reduce spread and exposure;
    • wear a face mask when you are around other people and animals; and
    • cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow, followed immediately by washing your hands with soap and water or sanitizing with an alcohol-based sanitizer.

For a full list of COVID-19 resources, preventative measures, and precautions, visit the CDC website.

More Information

For more information about COVID-19, visit the Allegheny County Health Department, World Health Organization (WHO), or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites.

*Information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and Allegheny County Health Department