Allegheny County, Pa.'s ‘Forward with Families’ supports childcare providers

Key Takeaways

Allegheny County, Pa. is expanding access to childcare as part of a broader initiative to better support families through the primary obstacles they’re facing today, including in health, employment, education and housing. Through its “Forward with Families” initiative, Allegheny County is aiming to create an additional 5,000 childcare and after-school slots across the county over the next five years.

Forward with Families is “about something very simple, but also very important — making sure that working families across Allegheny County have what they need to succeed,” Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said at a recent press conference. “Because right now, families are doing everything right and they’re still struggling.

“They’re working hard, they’re raising kids, they’re giving back to their community, but they’re facing real barriers, especially when it comes to finding affordable and reliable childcare.”

Allegheny County is leveraging a mix of public, private and philanthropic funding to build out the childcare and after-school slots. That short-term investment will pay off in dividends for the community, according to Chris Watts, CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania.

“We’re not growing population as a county, so [Innamorato] has the foresight to see the more kids we have that can thrive, the better our county is going to be for the long-term,” Watts said. “And it’s hard to make that case when there are budget demands and short-term gaps, but these are things that are going to pay off — not just today for the safe places and the ability for parents to work, but in the long term for these kids that have the mentorship and the programs to help them figure out what they want to do in their lives.”

The county’s Department of Children Initiatives is leading the work, which will focus on the most pressing childcare needs, including infant and toddler care and care outside of typical 9-to-5 working hours, such as before, after-school and weekend programming, according to Becky Mercatoris, director of the Department of Children Initiatives.

In its 2025 budget, Allegheny County allocated $2.5 million to the Department of Children Initiatives to increase childcare affordability, which created an additional 500 childcare spots that filled up quickly. That smaller scale work helped inform the county’s vision for how it could best support childcare providers through Forward with Families, Mercatoris noted. 

“One of our big takeaways was that there are lots of providers who are very ready to expand,” Mercatoris said. “They know what they need to have to be able to do that, they are very clear about where they would like to expand and where they’re maintaining wait lists and they are really in tune with the families who are coming to them, who are looking for care.”

Adding 5,000 childcare and after-school time slots will be a “game changer” for the community, where many providers, including the Boys and Girls Clubs, are struggling, Watts said.

“And it’s not because of the demand,” Watts said. “The demand is there. It’s that the needs are changing in our communities, and we can’t respond fast enough with the resources to deliver, even though the intention’s there, and the quality’s there and we want to do the work.

“So, this enables us to focus on what we do best, which is bringing on awesome, trained, qualified staff to be able to fulfill the needs in the community.”

Allegheny County has released request-for-proposals regarding childcare capacity expansion, out-of-school-time program capacity expansion and early care education for out-of-school-time workforce support, according to Watts.

Funding would enable the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania to max out capacity at its current facilities and build stronger relationships with schools and families, Watts noted.

“Having county government that you can rely on and look to for leadership is such a momentum builder for organizations that are doing the work in communities,” Watts said. “Because they have the platform, they have the data, they have the knowledge, they have the access.

“And us not just feeling seen, but them starting initiatives that we feel truly can impact the future of the county … it makes me want to do my job better, and it makes this organization stronger.”

Allegheny County also launched a re-tooled online program finder, where residents can find options for childcare, after-school programming and summer camp personalized to their needs. The tool will give officials better targeted insight into what areas — such as age and location — might have the largest gaps, according to Mercatoris.

“We need to take a step forward; this is the first place that we’re going to start,” she said. “Our hope is that as the five years go on, we’re able to be far more nuanced, and specifically, we’re building slots, ‘Now, we’re down to a shortage of 200 in this community, 400 in this community.’

“We’re really committed to making sure that we’re taking the data and information that we have, focusing it and sharpening it and being able to make adjustments specifically around the county as the years go on.”