January 31, 2020 Recess: A Community Conversation Physical movement and the freedom to play improves children’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. Children, their caregivers, and community members are invited to join the Recess Advocacy Team to discuss their school recess experiences. Families will also have the opportunity to play at the MuseumLab for FREE from 4:30–5:30 p.m. Conversation, activities, and pizza will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Learning Lab 1. The evening will include: conversation, playful activities, networking, pizza, and more! Registration To register, complete the following form: More Information For more information, email recess@tryingtogether.org. Share this flyer with your network.
ECE Advocacy Fellows Complete First Month of Program Convening for the first time at Trying Together’s main office, 2020 ECE Advocacy Fellows completed their first month of the Fellowship program this January. About In January 2020, Trying Together launched its second Early Childhood Education (ECE) Advocacy Fellowship. Now through September, Fellows will meet once per month to gain public policy knowledge, build on their leadership skills, and develop their voices as early childhood advocates. In January, Fellows met for their first workshop session where they learned about Early Learning PA (ELPA) campaigns, including Start Strong PA, Pre-K for PA, and Childhood Begins at Home, and heard from past Fellows about how to make the most out of their Fellowship experience. If you’re interested in advocacy, visit our Take Action page! More Information If you’re interested in learning more about the Fellowship, visit our webpage, sign-up to receive our newsletters, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Updates will be shared as information becomes available.
January 27, 2020 Take Action to Support Infants and Toddlers in Pennsylvania Are you interested in advocating to increase access to and the affordability of child care for infants and toddlers in Pennsylvania? Take action by completing Start Strong PA’s current advocacy ask! About In December 2019, a campaign for high-quality child care in Pennsylvania called Start Strong PA delivered a New Year’s resolution photo frame to every member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The frames included a spot for a photo, a place for their signature, and the following resolution: In 2020, I resolve that all children deserve to start strong. I will support the healthy development of all Pennsylvania’s infants and toddlers by fighting for greater access to high-quality child care. Now, Start Strong PA is encouraging the General Assembly to take a picture with the signed photo frame and share it across their social media platforms. However, Start Strong PA needs your help! Throughout January, the campaign is asking Pennsylvania families and caregivers to send in photos of their infants and toddlers to place inside the frames. Will you reinforce Start Strong PA’s mission to increase access to and the affordability of high-quality infant/toddler early learning programs? How You Can Help To send in a photo, complete the following steps: Find your Senator or Representative by visiting: http://bit.ly/StartStrongPAresolution. Type in your address and press search. You will be given links to your Pennsylvania House and Senate members. Click on the link (their name) and you will be sent to their website. On the left-hand side, you can find their Harrisburg office address. Place the 4 x 6 photo(s) and a message that says “Make me your New Year’s resolution!” in an envelope, add postage, and mail to their Harrisburg office. Looking to go a step further? Send your Senator and Representative a reminder as well by completing a pre-filled form on our Take Action page! More Information For questions or to send your picture to Start Strong PA, email info@startstrongpa.org.
November 26, 2019 2020 Early Childhood Education Advocacy Fellowship Trying Together invites early care and education professionals to apply to its 2020 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Advocacy Fellowship to strengthen their voice as an early childhood advocate. Online applications are being accepted now through Tuesday, December 31 at 11:59 p.m. About In this nine-month program, ECE Advocacy Fellows: develop their role as a “change-maker”; harness their leadership skills; learn to use research-based communication strategies to build positive impact; gain knowledge of public policy processes and key players, and their effect on their work; and receive a stipend (along with their employer) for their time. At this time, Trying Together offers the fellowship program at no cost to the participant and will provide lunch and snacks at each session. Travel stipends are available on a case-by-case basis. Intended Audience Trying Together’s ECE Advocacy Fellowship has been designed for professionals working in the early care and education field, including: center administrators and teachers; family child care providers; school-age child care providers; Head Start teachers; pre-k teachers; PK-4 teachers and principals; home visitors; trainers; professors of higher education; and child care resource and referral professionals. Session Details From January–September 2020, Fellows will meet as a group on the last Tuesday of each month (tentatively) from 12:00-4:00 p.m. Dates are subject to change but will be finalized in January 2020. Participants should expect an additional two to four hours of work every month. We recognize that conflicts may arise unexpectedly, but each participant should plan to participate in all program activities if accepted into the Fellowship. At each workshop, an informed early childhood, public policy, or community leader will facilitate, drawing on information from regional or national experts to share the latest news, research, and strategies to improve early childhood public policy. Workshops will include opportunities for networking, professional growth, and community development. Application Details Online applications are being accepted now through Tuesday, December 31 at 11:59 p.m. Our selection committee seeks to admit an evenly balanced cohort with regard to geography, diversity, experience, interest, etc. All participants will be notified by the first week of January 2020. To apply, visit the ECE Advocacy Fellowship page. More Information For more information about our public policy efforts at Trying Together, contact Cristina Codario by email at cristina@tryingtogether.org or by calling 412.567.3673.
October 11, 2019 Recess: A Community Conversation Children, parents, and community members are invited to join the Recess Advocacy Team on November 7 to discuss their school recess experiences. The evening will include conservation, playful activities, networking, dinner, and more! More Information For questions, contact recess@tryingtogether.org. Share this flyer with your network. Registration To register, complete the form below.
October 10, 2019 Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership Summit On December 3, staff from Trying Together’s Policy Team will be presenting at the 2019 Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP) Summit. About Join the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership on December 3 for the 2019 GPNP Summit at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown Hotel. The Summit will be an intensive, collaborative enrichment opportunity to learn new skills and tactics for achieving measurable success based on strategy, partnership, data, and hard work. With this, a particular focus will be placed on addressing pressing social issues in southwestern Pennsylvania, including those that concern: education, economic stability, social and community context, neighborhood and the build environment, and health and health care. Onsite child care for children ages 2-12 years of age is available at no cost to the participant. However, pre-registration is required by November 15 as space is limited. Our Session At the event, Trying Together’s Director of Public Policy, Lissa Geiger Shulman, and PK-3 Public Policy Manager, Emily Neff, will be presenting their session, “Collaborating for Effective Early Childhood Advocacy.” Interested parties are invited to attend the session from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on December 3, 2019. This session will explore: the history behind the formation of a coalition for early learning in Pennsylvania that represents both traditional and non-traditional stakeholders, advocacy successful of growing state funding in multiple line items through the launch of three coordinated campaigns, and challenges and opportunities presented by collaborating with partners in advocacy work. See the full agenda. Registration Regular registration closes on November 22, with varying fees dependant on registration type. Onsite registration will be available at an increased price. See the full pricing guide. To register, visit the event webpage. More Information For questions, contact Sue Gove at 412.431.5087 or sgove@gove.org. To learn more about the Summit, visit the event webpage.
August 5, 2019 For Children’s Long-Term Success, Families Need Paid Leave When a family introduces a new child into their life, the last thing they should have to worry about is if they have the time and money to properly care for and bond with their child. However, families across the Commonwealth are in that exact situation, with many caregivers involuntarily reducing their work hours, changing jobs, or leaving the workforce entirely. Early Interactions Matter While many may associate childhood learning with the education system, learning and development begin much earlier than a child’s first classroom experience. Parents and caregivers are children’s first teachers, and to support the long-term success of the next generation, we need to ensure that all caregivers are afforded the opportunity to care for and bond with their children. In Pennsylvania, there are more than 870,000 children under the age of six. Of those children, 41 percent live in low-income households. While about 51 percent of children birth to age five are in non-parental care for at least 10 hours per week, accessing such services can be difficult and expensive. Due to high costs, limited seats, and child care deserts, families across the Commonwealth are left without access to the affordable, high-quality child care services they need. The difficulties don’t stop there. Without child care access, families have limited options. They can rotate their child through a list of available family members and friends; reduce or shift their work hours; change their profession; or leave the workforce entirely. More often than not, these challenges disproportionately affect women who make up 94 percent of workers that involuntarily work part-time due to child care problems. While these options exist, all of them can lead to negative outcomes, including financial insecurity, inconsistent caregiving, increased family stress, and difficulties reentering the workforce. Research shows that positive interactions with consistent adult caregivers are important during children’s early development, as they optimize the development of brain pathways for the visual and auditory senses, motor and language processing, higher cognitive functioning, and emotional regulation. This challenge is more than just having someone around to look after a child. It’s about establishing the conditions children need to experience success later in life. Current Policy In the current family leave system, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. FMLA was designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities, providing this benefit to employees at public agencies, public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with 50 or more employees. However, just because unpaid leave is available does not mean that it is accessible. In January 2019, the National Partnership for Women and Families reported out that unpaid leave under the FMLA is inaccessible for 59 percent of working people. The Family Care Act If Pennsylvania passes the Family Care Act, families will no longer have to choose between remaining financially stable in the workforce and caring for their young child in the most critical period of their life. The Family Care Act establishes a statewide insurance fund, similar to Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation fund, which allows individuals to draw down a portion of their salary for: Up to 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition Up to 12 weeks to care for a covered service member as covered under FMLA Up to 20 weeks to care for their own serious health condition Up to 20 weeks to care for a new child after a birth, adoption, or placement through foster care In Pennsylvania, families should come first. To ensure caregivers’ financial security, healthy relationship development, and workplace success, we need to make sure that they have access to the paid leave they need to care for their family. For the long-term personal, academic, and professional success of our youngest generation, we need to pass the Family Care Act. Take Action Paid family leave is not only a family value, it’s also a Pennsylvania value–and that’s a fact. Use your voice to advocate for families by encouraging the state government to pass the Family Care Act. Visit the campaign page to learn more. To stay up-to-date on advocacy opportunities, sign up for Trying Together’s Public Policy newsletter or visit our Take Action page.
July 3, 2019 Allegheny County Community Health Assessment Survey The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and its advisory coalition are developing the next Community Health Assessment (CHA). As part of this process, they have created a survey for residents to help identify the priority health issues impacting their communities. About the Survey This survey has a particular focus on health equity and will be used to design a new Community Health Improvement Plan, which will outline goals and strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of all Allegheny County residents. By taking the survey, you are helping ACHD identify the key needs of Allegheny County communities. The survey will be available from June 26 through October 4, 2019. This survey is open to all residents of Allegheny County over 18 years of age. ACHD is also working with various organizations to make paper versions of the survey available to residents. Both versions are identical – if you take the online version, there is no need to complete a paper version. All answers are private and anonymous. Take the Online Survey If you’re interested in sharing your voice, complete the survey today! Spanish Survey La encuesta de salud de la comunidad del condado de Allegheny está disponible en español. Haz click aquí para realizar la encuesta. Partner Organizations ACHD is looking for partner organizations to help distribute the CHA survey to populations that they serve. Partners are encouraged to distribute and collect these surveys to community residents. Strategies for distribution include bringing paper surveys to events, making surveys available at their locations, and seeking other opportunities for Allegheny County residents to complete the survey. If you are a local organization that is interested in helping with this effort, please contact Alaina Conner via the ACHD website or by calling 412-578-8364. *Information provided by the Allegheny County Health Department
April 26, 2019 PWSA Adopting Polices That Support Families The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) board will approve two policies that support caregivers. Paid Safe Leave Policy On Friday, April 26, 2019 the PWSA board will vote on a paid safe leave policy. The measure allows employees who have been victimized by domestic abuse to take days off from work. The PWSA joins Mayor Peduto who signed an Executive Order on safe leave for City of Pittsburgh employees last year. “The cost of domestic violence for employers is the loss of productivity. Employees plagued by violence at home are often distracted and sometimes ill at work. This policy will allow employees in these situations to try and take steps to improve the situation without fearing the loss of their job,” a board statement says. Parental Leave Policy The PWSA board will also vote on a paid parental leave policy. This policy permits new mothers and fathers to take six weeks of paid leave after the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child. “We’re grateful to the City of Pittsburgh for leading the way and our Board of Directors for adopting these progressive employment policies. The changes will help protect the well-being of our employees, help retain talent and attract the best and the brightest to join our team,” said PWSA Executive Director Robert A. Weimar. Both policies were adopted by Mayor William Peduto and Pittsburgh City Council. Learn more about both PWSA policies by visiting the City of Pittsburgh press release page.
