April 22, 2024 Affordable Child Care Access Tops List in County Exec’s Survey Increasing access to affordable child care and care for older adults to make it easier for workers and people participating in workforce training programs topped a survey from the Allegheny County Executive’s office. All in Allegheny recently invited county residents to share their ideas, priorities, and needs with County Executive Sara Innamorato’s office through a survey. Survey Results According to the survey results, affordable child or family care options was the top priority for 50.8% of all respondents. Supporting reduced-fare public transit (34.9%) edged out incentivizing the creation of good-paying jobs (34.8%) for second place. Protecting worker’s rights came in fourth place (28.3%). Expanding guaranteed income programs ranked fifth (23.3%) among respondents. The survey was conducted between November and April and received a total of 16,973 responses. It was translated into nine languages. Categories in the survey included Economic and Community Development and Education, Workforce, and Youth Development as well as Health and Human Services; Housing for All; Infrastructure; Open and Accessible Government; Safety and Justice; Sustainability; and Vibrant Democracy. About All in Allegheny All in Allegheny is a large and inclusive community engagement process that aims to understand what people from every part of Allegheny want from county government and build an action plan for county government to deliver on community needs. Innamorato named nearly 200 leaders to nine policy committees that will inform her administration’s governing agenda. Trying Together Executive Director Cara Ciminillo is co-chair of the Robust Education, Workforce Development, and Youth Investments Committee.
April 17, 2024 OCDEL Announces 2024 Equity in Early Childhood Education Champion Award Recipients The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has announced the recipients of the 2024 Equity in Early Childhood Education (ECE) Champion Award. Several local child care providers were among this year’s recipients. About the Equity in ECE Champion Award The Equity in Early Childhood Education Champion Award recognizes the equity work of Pennsylvania early childhood education (ECE) programs and professionals, and highlights the impact of that work on staff, children, and families within early childhood education settings. The award recipients’ work aligns with the state Department of Education’s Equity and Inclusion Toolkit and the position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Local Award Recipients Award recipients for 2024 in the region included: Gold Level Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh Pre-K Kids Learning Center, New Castle Silver Level AIU/Steel Valley Family Center, Homestead Brightside Academy, Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh Jack Safer, President & CEO, Brightside Academy, Pittsburgh Bronze Level Dr. Shawna Starling, Vice President of Intervention and Development Services, Brightside Academy, Pittsburgh Shady Lane School, Pittsburgh Learn More The Equity in Early Childhood Education Award brings awareness to and highlights the equity work taking place within the state’s early childhood education and afterschool settings by child care, evidence-based home visiting, and early intervention professionals and organizations that support the National Association for the Education of Young Children. An appreciation event will be held at the State Capitol Rotunda, located at 501 N. 3rd St. in Harrisburg, at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24. The event is open to the public.
April 16, 2024 Early Learning PA Coalition Advocates for 2024-25 State Budget Priorities The principal partners of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA) are calling on state policymakers to support investments in evidence-based, high-quality early care, education, and health services. ELPA is focused on supporting young Pennsylvanians from birth to age five. Trying Together is a partner of the statewide coalition of advocates. The coalition is urging state policymakers to make investments in child care, pre-k, and early intervention. Learn More From birth to age five, children’s brains make millions of neural connections every second, forming brain architecture for life. At no other time in a human’s life will the brain develop at this speed or with such intricacy. This period is the foundation upon which all later learning, behavior, and health depend. Pittsburgh-based early childhood nonprofit Trying Together and their ELPA partners are calling for state policymakers to maximize the potential of these first five years through investments in early care and education programs in the 2024-2025 budget. Budget Requests The budget priorities from ELPA for the 2024-25 final state budget include: Supporting the Shapiro administration’s proposal to increase subsidy rates to the 75th percentile of the current price families pay for child care services. This will help alleviate rising facility, food, utility, and supply costs for providers participating in Child Care Works. Investing $284 million in new and recurring state funding to implement a child care teacher recruitment and retention initiative. This will help alleviate an ongoing staffing crisis that is causing classrooms and entire programs to close and leave working families without access to child care. The funding would provide monthly payments to providers maintaining a subsidy agreement with the state. It would be restricted for initiatives that would help retain and recruit staff such as monthly wage increases, hiring bonuses, benefit packages, or retention bonuses for staff staying for a certain length of time or achieving credentials or degrees. Supporting a proposed investment of $30 million in Pre-K Counts to increase the per-child rate to help address workforce challenges and inflationary pressures. For the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, a proposed $2.7 million investment to the per-child rate should be examined so that it has parity to the Pre-K Counts rate increase. To achieve this, the needed investment should be $8.8 million in the Head Start Supplemental Assistance line. Supporting, at minimum, the administration’s proposed $16.6 million increase that will serve an additional 3,000 children and their families. This is a first step in a broader solution that includes a long-needed rate adjustment for early intervention providers and that would serve additional children. Additional support would help to address such issues as workforce shortages and achieving equitable enrollment as well as moving to the coaching model and addressing the growing needs of families across the state. Trying Together and other partners of ELPA will continue to advocate for these investments as the budget process continues through June 20. Stay up-to-date on how to advocate for these issues by signing-up to get public policy updates from Trying Together.
ELRC Region 5 Offering Free Developmental Screenings in April ELRC Region 5 is offering a series of developmental screenings at no cost to families in April. Ages & Stages Developmental Screenings ELRC Region 5 will conduct screenings using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Families with children ages two months to five years are invited to participate. Screenings will be offered on these dates: Thursday, April 25 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Hosanna House 807 Wallace Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15221 Tuesday, April 30 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. 304 Wood Street, Suite 400 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 More Details The screening can take 40 minutes to an hour, and results are immediately provided. If necessary, staff can offer referrals for full evaluations and developmental resources. Families can call 412-350-3577 or email elrc5@alleghenycounty.us to request an appointment or more information.
Make a Month of the Young Child Donation April is the Month of the Young Child, which emphasizes the importance of early child care and celebrates organizations that provide vital services. Trying Together supports the work of early childhood by facilitating inclusive learning opportunities for early educators. By providing numerous pathways for early learning professionals to grow in their careers, Trying Together helps to ensure that every child has access to high-quality early care and education that prepares them for their future. Empower Early Childhood Development You can help empower early child care professionals by making a donation for the Month of the Young Child. Gifts of any amount will help and are appreciated. However, these suggested amounts would directly impact quality improvements for regional early learning programs: $50 helps to cover the average cost for one early educator to attend a Trying Together professional learning course. $500 covers the cost for an early educator to complete necessary job requirements as well as receive support from Trying Together through the Child Care 101: New Hire Orientation Professional Development Series. $2,500 provides an early educator the opportunity to grow in their career by obtaining a Child Development Associate (CDA) Certificate or School-Age Professional Credential offered by Trying Together. If you’re interested in supporting the Month of the Young Child campaign or learning more about how to work with Trying Together, contact Kerry May at 412-206-1053 or email kerry@tryingtogether.org.
April 15, 2024 School-Age Mental Health Consultation Accepting Appointments The Pennsylvania Key Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) program is now offering a new service to help school-age children as well as their teachers and families with mental health counseling. Learn More School Age Child Care (SACC) Mental Health Consultation is aimed at assisting Keystone STARS programs looking for support with children who are struggling with behavior, attachment, peer relationships, or emotion regulation. It also assists teachers and families of students with self-care, stress, and coping. SACC Mental Health Consultation is now accepting consultation appointments across the state. Mental health consultants are available by telephone or video conference appointments. The consultation is a problem-solving and collaborative approach to develop goals and strategies for: Child social-emotional concerns Child behavioral or developmental concerns Emotional well-being of teachers and caregivers Partnering with families Services are available to child care professionals – such as teachers, directors, and staff in center, group-based child care programs – participating in Keystone STARS school-age child care programs. How to Request an Appointment Appointments are conducted on Tuesdays with the option to schedule follow-up appointments based on individual needs. Those interested in scheduling an appointment with a SACC mental health consultant can register online. Those who register will receive an email confirmation with appointment information and a Zoom link invitation for the video appointment if they chose a virtual option. Registration will be accepted until the day before a consultation date.
The Buzzword Is: EMERGE As part of its programming, Buzzword distributes its signature “BUZZ Boxes” to local families to help excite children from birth to age five as well as their caregivers about new words that are all around them. These family engagement kits come complete with a high-quality children’s book and enriching activities that support early literacy skills and development. This Month’s Buzzword This month’s Buzzword is EMERGE, which means to come out into view. The EMERGE Activity Book will give children – ages birth to five – and their caregivers the opportunity to connect through science, art, music, and early literacy activities. Caregivers are encouraged to read through “Bloom Boom!” by April Pulley Sayre with their child. Then, they should take part in the different activities and experiments in the EMERGE Activity Book. Time should be spent explaining the meaning of the words in the book and connecting them to their child’s life experiences. Buzzword has also provided an EMERGE book list of recommendations from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for further reading. View the EMERGE Activity Book and book recommendations. More Information Buzzword is a free literacy resource for families. BUZZ Boxes are available at local Allegheny County Family Center locations for children up to age five. Each box contains a children’s book, activity guide, and materials for completing the activities. Want to learn more on how to get involved with Buzzword? Ask your local family center about the program. You can also visit the Buzzword website or email buzzword@tryingtogether.org for more information about Buzzword.
April 9, 2024 State Releases Meaningful Family Engagement Tool Kit The state Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) has released a collection of resources to strengthen engagement in child welfare. The Pennsylvania Meaningful Family Engagement Toolkit is a web-based resource that was developed through statewide quality improvement efforts. It was designed to improve safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children, youth, and families served by the state’s child welfare system. The toolkit includes resources for a variety of topics. Learn More Meaningful engagement in child welfare, as defined by OCYF, is an active, ongoing, and genuine curiosity about an individual’s history, perspectives, challenges, and accomplishments. It involves the proactive partnership between caseworkers and families to increase safety for children by using inquiry to identify service needs and available supports and to work together to define achievable goals. The objective is to develop family plans, address challenges, achieve goals, form new connections, and strengthen existing supports. This involves ensuring that families have an active role by empowering them to make joint decisions to ensure a child’s safety, permanency, and well-being. Topics covered in the toolkit include: Cultural awareness and responsiveness Engagement models and strategies Engagement of incarcerated parents Engagement of out-of-state parents Engaging youth Father engagement Leadership Legal Parenting resources Teaming with extended family and kin The toolkit’s development was guided by data and information gathered through the state’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) efforts. These were designed to evaluate and improve how the state’s Child Welfare Practice Model is demonstrated at the system level and through daily practice behaviors and skills of professionals. The OCYF said data provided evidence of the benefits of strong engagement behaviors and skills. However, it also drew attention to populations needing additional support for engagement, such as fathers and incarcerated or out-of-state parents. Explore the Pennsylvania Meaningful Family Engagement Toolkit online.
Take Action to Fix Child Care In February, Gov. Josh Shapiro released his 2024-25 state budget approval. While the governor mentioned proposed investments in pre-K, evidence-based home visiting, and perinatal and child health, his proposal did not directly address the state’s ongoing child care teacher shortage. To accomplish our goal of keeping classrooms open and staffed, we need supporters to send a message to the General Assembly and the governor, telling them to fix child care in the 2024-25 state budget. Details on the Teacher Shortage A September 2023 survey conducted by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab – on behalf of Start Strong PA – provided details on the staffing crisis in 762 of Pennsylvania’s child care programs. The survey found that nearly 26,000 additional children could be served at child care programs if they were fully staffed. Additionally, 2,395 open positions have resulted in the closure of 934 classrooms. Lastly, child care providers’ inability to recruit and retain staff is having a direct impact on the quality of programming. As a result, thousands of families are unable to find the care they need to go to work. Take Action Pennsylvania lawmakers can fix this problem by tackling the child care teacher shortage. They must establish and fund a program that will help providers to better recruit and retain staff. Make your voice heard: Send a message to the General Assembly and the governor. Tell them they must fix child care in the 2024-25 state budget. Get Updates By signing on to Trying Together’s Public Policy Agenda, you’ll receive action alerts to advocate on behalf of young children, their families, and the early care and education professionals who interact with them.
April 8, 2024 Educators to Celebrate Family Child Care Awareness Day in Harrisburg The Family Child Care Advisory Council, with support from PennAEYC and First Up, is inviting home-based educators from around the state to gather in Harrisburg on April 30 to celebrate Family Child Care Awareness Day. The event will recognize the impact of home-based child care programs. Learn More Family Child Care Awareness Day will include a visibility event, which will give attendees an opportunity to showcase to legislators and the public what it means to be a home-based child care educator. Participants can showcase their programs through a variety of means. Some options include creating the following: A trifold poster highlighting the learning that occurs in their program A poster recognizing the families the home-based program serves that includes their testimonies about their experiences A cardboard cutout displaying the quote: “Of course, I’m a home-based child care educator…” More Details Family Child Care Awareness Day will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on April 30 at the state capitol, located at 501 N. 3rd Street in Harrisburg. Those interested in participating should contact Trying Together’s policy team at elizabeth@tryingtogether.org. Also, registration is now open for an April 23 training in connection with Family Child Care Awareness Day. For those who cannot attend the April 30 event, Trying Together is leading capitol caravans from Pittsburgh on May 7, May 22, June 4, and June 25.
