Rep. Summer Lee Joins County Executive Innamorato to Celebrate Nearly $6 Million in Childcare Investments for Allegheny County Families

Photos (Dropbox)

PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 29, 2026 - Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, Heinz Endowments CEO Chris DeCardy, and local community partners at the Carlow Early Learning Center to celebrate nearly $6 million in announced and proposed investments to expand access to affordable childcare and out-of-school-time programming across Allegheny County.

The funding will support the county's Forward with Families initiative, launched in April 2026 with the goal of creating 5,000 new childcare and after-school slots over the next five years. The initial investments are expected to support up to 1,000 new slots, giving working families more opportunities to access the care and support they need.

"A single parent in Pennsylvania earning the median income would have to spend 40% of that income just to put one infant in childcare, before they've paid rent or bought a single grocery. Something has got to give," said Congresswoman Summer Lee. "I'm proud to stand with County Executive Sara Innamorato and our community partners in this effort to expand childcare for families across Western Pennsylvania. And I'm proud that my office has already taken an important step toward bringing $2 million in federal funding home for Forward with Families by getting our request included in a committee-approved appropriations package. There's still work to be done, and I'll keep fighting to make sure every family has access to the affordable, quality childcare they need and deserve."

Today's announcement includes:

• $3 million from the Heinz Endowments.
• $2.5 million proposed by County Executive Innamorato in Allegheny County's 2027 budget.
• $400,000 already invested by Allegheny County in 2026.

Congresswoman Lee also highlighted her office's efforts to bring additional federal resources to the initiative. Rep. Lee requested $2 million in federal Community Project Funding for Forward with Families, and the request has been included in a committee-approved Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations package. The funding has not yet received final congressional approval, and Lee remains committed to advancing the request through the remaining appropriations process.

The announcement comes as families across Pennsylvania continue to face significant childcare costs. According to Child Care Aware of America's 2024-2025 Pennsylvania affordability data, center-based infant care would consume approximately 40% of the median income of a single-parent family in the state, leaving families with difficult choices about how to balance childcare, housing, groceries, and other basic expenses.

In Congress, Rep. Lee has championed efforts to expand affordable childcare, strengthen early childhood education, and support working families. In February 2026, she joined Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib to introduce the Head Start for America's Children Act, which would expand Head Start to more than 11 million eligible children, increase educator pay, and strengthen family support services. Rep. Lee also co-leads the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would cap childcare costs for eligible families at 7% of their income while improving wages for childcare workers. She is also an original cosponsor of the American Family Act to expand the Child Tax Credit and the FAMILY Act to establish up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave nationwide.

Lee has also been a strong supporter of expanding paid parental leave locally, joining County Executive Innamorato, Congressman Chris Deluzio, and family advocates in September to support the county's proposal. On October 22, 2026, Innamorato signed the historic policy into law, establishing up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for eligible workers at covered employers with at least 15 employees, with implementation scheduled for 2027.

Throughout these efforts, Rep. Lee has emphasized the disproportionate financial pressure facing working mothers, particularly Black mothers, and the need to ensure parents can care for their children without sacrificing the very paychecks their families depend on.

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, shehas delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.7 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania's infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 4,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.