City Councilwoman Backing Legislation To Study Local Daycares
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Nearly two thirds of children under the age of 5 are from families where both parents work.
That is part of the reason members of Pittsburgh City Council are looking at the quality of care at local daycares.
Four of the nine City Council members in Pittsburgh are females, and they have vowed to tackle issues that matter to women.
"This is the first time that council has decided to look at an issue that may typically be outside the range of City Council issues - child care facilities," said Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak. "But as we sat down and thought about what issues are important to families, child care rose to the top of the list."
The women's caucus is backing legislation that will look into the issues facing daycare owners.
"Basically, the study is going to work with representatives of each of the nine council districts to identify all of the child care facilities in the council districts and talk with them to see exactly what their needs are," said Rudiak.
One issue was easy to identify.
"One of our biggest issues is the playground," Rudiak said.
Wanda Franklin runs the Hug Me Tight Childlife Center in the Hill District.
"We try our best to make sure that the playgrounds we do attend, we send out a force ahead of time to go ahead and clean that up," said Franklin. "If something is broken, we have to re-adjust. We have to find another place to take our children."
A total of $15,000 has been set aside for a consultant group to study facilities and make suggestions for improvement.
"This funding is actually coming from old monies from the city clerk's office that were unspent old monies in the city clerk's office," Rudiak said.
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