Jan 23 County Executive Makes Exciting Investment to Support Child Care and Families

Jan 23h in Bold Voices by

(January 23, 2024)

On January 10, County Executive Innamorato and the Department of Children Initiatives (DCI) announced a $500 million expansion of the Allegheny County Child Care Matters (ACCCM) pilot project. This expansion will clear the wait list and allow more families to access high-quality child care.

The investment is paid for with American Rescue Plan funds. The announcement, made in the County Executive’s first full week, is a clear win for children and families in Allegheny County! It shows the county’s commitment to working families and demonstrates a clear vision that child care is not just a children and family issue, but actually an economic issue – when parents have reliable, affordable child care, they can be at work supporting their families and communities and helping our region’s businesses thrive.

When the announcement was made, Rebecca Mercatoris, director at DCI, highlighted that the average cost of child care in Pennsylvania is $291/week. For a working family struggling to make ends meet, it is simply unaffordable to remain in the workforce and pay for child care. The ACCCM program allows those families to now remain in the workforce and not have to make that tough decision between their job and child care.

We thank the County Executive for making children and families such a top priority of her administration and recognizing that if families succeed, then we all succeed. We look forward to continuing to work with her, her team, and DCI to uplift children and families throughout our county.

Don’t forget to make sure your voice is heard – complete the County Executive’s All in Allegheny survey. We recommend that you highlight children and families. Specifically, the work of the Department of Children Initiatives and their need to be funded with significant, recurring general funds to reach their fullest potential.

For more information on DCI and the ACCCM pilot program see DCI’s website and read this blog from Becky Mercatoris:
Meet the Department of Children Initiatives

Innamorato to provide $500k in subsidies to make child care more accessible in Allegheny County (WESA)

Jamie Baxter, Allies for Children Executive Director