Pittsburgh may offer child care service for city employees

Pittsburgh city employees may have access to on-site child care when Pittsburgh Public Schools close unexpectedly or they have to participate in some city meetings.

“The legislation is necessary to enable city employees with children who attend Pittsburgh Public Schools the opportunity to not miss work while ensuring the safety of their children with child care,” said Olga George, a spokesperson for Mayor Ed Gainey.

If the measure is approved, city employees would be notified of the site or sites where children could be taken for child care, George said.

“This program will enable us to keep the city’s hard working and valuable staff on the job and hopefully allow others to see one of the great benefits of working for the city of Pittsburgh,” she said.

The measure also would provide child care for parents who are attending community events sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, according to the legislation. George said those could include budget meetings or hearings.

Legislation before City Council would authorize the city to contract with Pittsburgh Childcare Event for $45,000 to provide such services for the rest of this year and throughout 2024.

City Council on Wednesday discussed with local experts further ways they could improve child care throughout the city in a post-agenda meeting.

City Council in 2019 provided $2 million for child care initiatives in the city, and that helped to keep child care businesses afloat during the covid-19 pandemic, officials said. The Childcare Quality Fund allowed child care centers to improve their state quality rankings through the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Keystone STARS program.

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jake Pawlak said all of that money has been committed already, but the administration is committed to providing additional cash to continue the work.

The money is “flying out the door,” said Councilwoman Deb Gross, D-Highland Park.

“We know there’s demand,” she said.

Gross said that while Pennsylvania lost 50,000 seats in child care centers across the state since the start of the pandemic, Pittsburgh saw child care centers helped by the Childcare Quality Fund grow rather than shrink.

About 46% of child care centers throughout Pennsylvania are ranked high-quality, compared with 57% in Pittsburgh, said Emily Neff, director of public policy at Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Trying Together.

“We still have a long way to go, but I think it’s really important we have a higher rate (of high-quality child care centers) than in the state,” she said.

Officials acknowledged there’s still room for improvement. Experts spoke of the challenges that child care providers — especially new ones — face to cover startup costs, acquire necessary permits and licenses and find affordable locations.

Council members called for incentives to encourage businesses and developments to include child care. They also suggested renovating former school buildings into child care centers that could be shared by several providers, while also encouraging people in the field to help them find creative solutions to the problems child care businesses may face.

“This council has a will to do more,” Gross said. “We can do better.”