News

February 11, 2025

Just Harvest Helps with SNAP, Tax Prep, and Other Services

Just Harvest helps those struggling with food security in Allegheny County as well as other free services. The organization aims to reduce hunger by boosting income and access to healthy food.

Services

Just Harvest offers a variety of services, including:

  • SNAP: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a public benefit that can supplement a food budget. Just Harvest helps eligible families to apply for these benefits.
  • Benefits case advocacy: Just Harvest helps those having trouble applying for or receiving food stamps, LIHEAP, or cash assistance (TANF) through the state’s Department of Human Services.
  • Tax help: Just Harvest provides free IRS-certified tax preparation assistance to low-income families in Allegheny County.
  • Fresh access: Just Harvest operates a kiosk at 20 area farmers markets and farm stands in the Pittsburgh area from May to November. Customers can shop with food stamps using their ACCESS/EBT card to purchase fresh produce, baked goods, meat, and dairy products.
  • Fresh Corners: This healthy corner store initiative partners with local store owners in parts of Allegheny County that lack supermarkets. It provides affordable access to fresh, nutritious foods.

More information on the services that Just Harvest provides can be found on this flier.

For information on 2025 SNAP discounts, view this flier. And for general 2025 SNAP information, check out this flier.

News

January 28, 2025

DHS Western Regional Office Has Moved

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) Western Region – Bureau of Certification Services has moved.

Learn More

The following address should be used when reaching out to the Western Regional Office:

DHS – Office of Child Development and Early Learning
Western Region – Bureau of Certification Services
301 Fifth Avenue
Suite 370
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Up-to-date Regional Office contact information can be found at the Regional Child Development Offices website.

News

December 9, 2024

OCDEL Announces CCW Base Payment Rate Increase for DHS Certified Providers

The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning’s (OCDEL) Bureau of Policy and Professional Development has released an announcement on an increase to Child Care Works (CCW) base payment rates for Department of Human Services (DHS) certified providers.

Learn More

Effective January 1, the subsidy base rates – also known as the Maximum Child Care Allowance (MCCA) – will be increased to the 75th percentile. The base payment rate increase applies to: 

  • All DHS certified child care providers
  • Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs)
  • OCDEL Early Learning Resource Center program representatives

The announcement replaces ELRC Announcement 23 #01 – Increase to Child Care Works Base Payment Rates.

Background

The CCDBG Act requires lead agencies to certify that rates are sufficient to ensure eligible children have equal access to child care services. The benchmark for equal access established by the Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Care (ACF OCC) is the 75th percentile of the current child care market. OCC considers payment rates set at the 75th percentile or higher as providing equal access.

Increasing the CCW base rate incentivizes additional provider participation in CCW. It also helps child care providers who participate in the program enhance services, invest in staff development, compensation, and promote overall quality in child care programs. 

Next Steps

The next steps for DHS certified child care providers on updating pay rates include:

  • Updating and communicating private rate pay changes on family agreements or contracts, website, and handbooks as applicable
  • Completing Appendix C-1 ELRC Subsidized Child Care Provider Reported Rates
  • Sending the completed Appendix C-1 along with verification of the DHS certified child care provider’s published rates to your ELRC by January 31 to receive the update rate
  • Directing any questions to your ELRC

The next step for ELRCs include:

  • Reviewing and sharing this information with appropriate staff
  • For any DHS certified child care providers returning completed Appendix C-1 and their published rates, entering updated rates into PELICAN CCW and converting rates for all DHS certified child care providers with an effective date of January 1 if verification is received by January 31.
  • Generating and sending all DHS certified child care providers Appendix C-2 ELRC Subsidized Child Care Provider Payment Rates
  • Directing any questions to your program representative

More information on the increased rates can be found on The Pennsylvania Key website. Information on Pennsylvania’s Maximum Child Care Allowance daily rates are also available on that website.

News

December 4, 2024

Allegheny County Council Passes Negotiated Budget, Crucial Funding Preserved

County Executive Sara Innamorato and Allegheny County Budget Chairman Robert Palmosina announced December 3 that they had jointly agreed on a negotiated budget that will result in a 1.7 millage increase and a balanced budget for 2025.

The County Council voted 10-5 to pass the negotiated budget agreement. This included preserving funding for child care services such as the Allegheny Child Care Matters (ACCM) program to help families pay for child care and for many other crucial human services such as family support centers.

Trying Together is deeply grateful for the support of our community – your quick action and advocacy highlighted the need to continue investing in child care for the well-being of our children, families, and the economic growth of our region. Today, we celebrate a significant win for children and families in our community. A heartfelt thank you to our county executive and the county council members who worked tirelessly to ensure the budget passed without cuts to human services.

Please take a moment to send a thank-you email to the county council members who voted yes for the budget:

Allegheny Council District Council Member Email 
At Large Bethany Hallam Bethany.Hallam@alleghenycounty.us 
District 1 Jack Betkowski Jack.Betkowski@alleghenycounty.us 
District 3 Anita Prizio Anita.Prizio@AlleghenyCounty.us
District 5 Dan Grzybek Daniel.Grzybek@alleghenycounty.us 
District 6 John F. Palmiere John.Palmiere@alleghenycounty.us 
District 7 Nicholas Futules Nicholas.Futules@alleghenycounty.us 
District 8 Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis Michelle.Chapkis@alleghenycounty.us 
District 10 DeWitt Walton DeWitt.Walton@alleghenycounty.us 
District 11 Paul Klein Paul.Klein@alleghenycounty.us 
District 12 Robert Palmosina Robert.Palmosina@AlleghenyCounty.us

Learn More

In addition to the increase, Innamorato and Palmosina agreed on several other items for the 2025 budget, including:

  • No layoffs of county employees
  • No cuts to county public safety departments or public works
  • Fully funding the Department of Human Services (including contributions from the county that will fully draw down every available state matching dollar)
  • Preserving funding for Emergency Rental Assistance and childcare programs that support working families 
  • Replenishing the county reserve funds to a serviceable level
  • A commitment from the administration or council to work together through 2025 to continue to identify efficiencies and ensure long-term financial sustainability

The budget also makes investments in education, transportation, and economic development by funding CCAC, PRT, and ACED programs for Main Streets, blight removal, attracting new companies, workforce development, first-time home buyers, and affordable housing.

For more information on the millage increase, read the press release from Allegheny County.

News

November 27, 2024

DHS Releases ECE Professional Development Organizations Request for Applications

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services has released its Early Care and Education Professional Development Organizations Request for Applications (RFA).

Learn More

The RFA’s intention is to identify Early Care and Education (ECE) Professional Development Organizations with the purpose of:

  • Coordinating and facilitating access to credit-bearing, stackable, and portable coursework and credentials for the ECE workforce through a mixed delivery model consisting of face-to-face, cohort or online methods
  • Coordinating with and supporting the Early Learning Resource Centers in improving the quality of ECE programs

The solicitation due date is Wednesday, Jan. 22.

For more details, visit the eMarketplace website, where visitors can find the pre-application conference webinar, answers to applicant questions, and deadlines.

News

November 19, 2024

DHS Child Care Facility Regulations Now Available in English and Spanish

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) is now providing its regulations for operating a child care facility in both English and Spanish.

Learn More

Each of the regulations that pertain to the operation of a child care facility can be viewed on the DHS website. The website also includes a brief description of each regulation and provides a hyperlink to the regulation.

Information on the child care regulations website includes:

  • Various regulations
  • What to expect during a family child care site inspection
  • Webinar on launching the new certification tool

For more information, visit the DHS website.

News

September 17, 2024

Childhood Begins at Home Releases Brief on Medicaid Financing of Home Visiting Services

The Childhood Begins at Home campaign has released a new brief that examines the opportunity of Medicaid financing of home visiting services to reach more Pennsylvania families.

Learn More

Voluntary home visiting programs employ nurses to support promoting the development and well-being of children and their families. The programs serve families that disproportionately face barriers to health – such as those living in poverty.

A Closer Look at Medicaid and Home Visiting in Pennsylvania” notes that 66% of Pennsylvania households receiving home visiting services through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program were at or below 100% of federal poverty guidelines.

This illustrates that many families already receiving home visits are eligible for Medicaid. It also shows there is an unmet need for many enrolled in Medicaid who do not have access to visits.

The study found that:

  • Approximately 45% of Pennsylvania children under age 6 are enrolled in Medicaid; this includes nearly 239,000 infants and toddlers (birth to age three) and 126,000 children ages four to five;
  • About 34% of all births in Pennsylvania are financed by Medicaid.

Despite MIECHV being reauthorized with additional federal funding opportunities following a 2021 financing report as well as an increase of $15 million increase in Pennsylvania’s 2022-23 state budget, home visiting in the state still only reaches about 7% of eligible families. 

Recommendations

Recommendations for the state’s Department of Human Services in the brief include:

  • Improve coordination between DHS’s offices that oversee home visiting
  • Improve data collection and transparency
  • Clarify the amount of funding supporting the home visiting program within DHS’ capitation line
  • Communicate financing rules around MIECHV, Medicaid, and other federal or state sources to maximize the reach of available funding for home visiting programs

For more information, read Childhood Begins at Home’s brief.

News

July 23, 2024

Report: Hundreds of Thousands Suffer from Food Insecurity in Allegheny County

More than 140,000 people in Allegheny County are struggling with food insecurity, which is defined as a lack of access to adequate food that prevents individuals from leading a healthy life, according to a report by Feeding America.

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According to the report, food insecurity is associated with numerous social and health outcomes and is considered a critical public health issue. Key drivers of food insecurity include unemployment, poverty, and income shocks – or, a sudden decrease in a household’s income – which can prevent adequate access to food.

A total of 142,190 Allegheny County residents – or 11.4% – were found to struggle with food insecurity, according to the report. Additionally, 44% of county residents were found to be above the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) threshold, while 56% were below the threshold of 200%.

The report’s map includes estimated food insecurity by race and ethnicity for select populations and places. The report’s methodology and data are also available.

More Details

More information on SNAP can be found on the state’s Department of Human Services website. Residents can apply online at COMPASS, via phone at 1-800-692-7462, or at a local county assistance office, which can be found online.

Those applying for assistance will need to provide their name, birthday, address, gross income, and Social Security number.

Also, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh are offering food programs to provide free meals for children while they are out of school this summer.

The Homewood Early Learning Hub & Family Center operates a walk-in food distribution program every Monday.

News

July 10, 2024

PA Launches ELS Website to Replace Management Systems Used by State Agencies

Pennsylvania has launched a new website dedicated to the Enterprise Licensing System (ELS) project.

Learn More

The goal of this project is to implement a single ELS that addresses licensing and certification needs, as well as incident and complaint management, across the following state agencies:

  • Department of Human Services (DHS)
  • Department of Health (DOH)
  • Department of Aging (PDA)
  • Department of Drug & Alcohol Program (DDAP)

The ELS will be rolled out by state program offices over the next two years. Stakeholders in impacted program areas will be notified when the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is scheduled for rollout, ensuring they have enough time to prepare.

ELS will enable staff to manage and process licensing, permitting, registration, certification, and related inspection or survey activities from initial application through issuance. They will also enable staff to offer extensive reporting capabilities. Additionally, the ELS will be used to record, review, investigate, and analyze incidents and complaints.

ELS Project Aims

The project’s aims are to:

  • Increase collaboration and communication across agencies
  • Improve scheduling of licensing, permitting, registration/certification inspections, surveys, and timely issuance of licenses/permits/registrations/certifications and renewals
  • Streamline business processes, including electronic sharing and storing of documents and pre-populated forms and templates
  • Reduce maintenance and operations costs from multiple systems to one system

The ELS will provide a standardized enterprise-wide solution that is configurable and can provide a limited degree of configurability by each agency to meet specific needs.

To receive website and project updates, subscribe to the ELS ListServ or visit the website.

News

June 10, 2024

DHS Renews Early Learning Resource Center’s Contract for Operation

The state’s Department of Human Services has renewed its five-year contract with Allegheny County to operate the Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC).

Learn More

The ELRC’s renewal comes with $39 million in funding over five years to staff and operate the center. ELRC 5 supports quality child care and administers the publicly-funded child care subsidy.

During the first five years of the grant, DHS administered more than $200 million in child care subsidies. It also provided $120 million in stimulus funding to support Allegheny County’s child care provider network during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ELRCs assist families in locating child care, determine eligibility for the child care subsidy, and provide other resource and referral services in the community. The centers also provide coaching and support to the child care provider network to improve and sustain high quality.

Allegheny County was first awarded the contract for the ELRC Region 5 in 2018, which was the first time that the state opened it up for a bid. The county’s DHS partners with Trying Together and The Alliance for Infants and Toddlers to operate ELRC services.

“Access to quality child care makes such an important impact on both the parent and the enrolled child,” said Becky Czekaj-Dengler, ELRC Region 5’s director. “During our first five years, we saw significant increases in both the percentage of eligible children living in low-income households taking advantage of the child care subsidy as well as the percentage of those same children attending the highest-quality child care settings. We appreciate the opportunity to build on that success.”

Dalton added that DHS recognizes that a lack of affordable child care prevents parents and caregivers from finding and maintaining employment, accessing physical and behavioral health support, finding stable housing, and meeting basic needs. In response, DHS has increased access to crisis child care, hired resource navigators to connect families accessing child care to other resources in the county, and established a rapid response team to support child care providers and families with children at risk of being suspended or expelled from care.

To learn more about Early Learning Resource Center 5, visit the center’s website.