City council urges support for 12-week paid parental leave while an expired lease shutters ROOTS on the North Side

Top Agenda Items

• A will of council urges county lawmakers to require paid parental leave
• City closes North Side space that provided drop-in support for unhoused residents

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A will of council urges county lawmakers to require paid parental leave 🔗

After a unanimous recommendation by the Allegheny County Board of Health on Sept. 28, the decision of whether to require businesses to provide paid parental leave will now go to Allegheny County Council.

The proposal requires businesses with 15 or more eligible employees to provide at least 12 weeks of paid leave to new parents.

Now Pittsburgh City Council Council is backing the bill.

City Council Member Erika Strassburger of Squirrel Hill North introduced supportive legislation, known as a “will of council,” during city council’s Sept. 29 general meeting urging county council to approve forthcoming legislation about paid parental leave. 

“Honestly, we probably, as a society, should have at least a year like other countries have,” said Strassburger. She added that statewide proposals for paid parental leave have remained dormant for almost 10 years. The will of council calls on the state to act on legislation as well.

If enacted, Allegheny County would become the first county in Pennsylvania to require paid parental leave for companies with 15 employees or more and “model a families-first approach to county government.” 

Since the proposal was introduced in May, the board has received more than 1,500 public comments with the overwhelming majority in support of the measure. 

County Council next meets on Oct. 6.

City closes North Side space that provided drop-in support for unhoused residents

An expired lease is uprooting the Reaching Out on the Streets (ROOTS) drop-in location on the North Side.

ROOTS is offered through the Office of Community Health and Safety and provides resources to unhoused people primarily through street outreach. 

The drop-in location, which permanently closed Oct. 2 after the city did not renew the lease, offered services such as connection to housing, paperwork assistance and county assistance. It also served as a mailing address for time-sensitive paperwork.

Seven people spoke during the Sept. 30 committee meeting, urging council to preserve a building for the program.

Lyndsey Sickler, Executive Director at Proud Haven, said, “We have, on East Ohio Street, created this continuum of services.” They said Proud Haven, Community Continuum and ROOTS routinely refer clients to each other for appropriate resources.

Council’s ability to intervene, however, is limited.

Council Member Khari Mosley of Point Breeze said during the June 17 committee meeting that state statute restricts what the city can provide. Social services are almost exclusively under the purview of the county’s Department of Human Services. 

Mayor Corey O’Connor’s preliminary budget for 2027 — submitted to council on Sept. 30 — includes expanded funding for ROOTS. The proposed line items only contain money for personnel, not rent. 

Council cannot independently seek a new building lease for the drop-in program. It is, however, responsible for authorizing one if presented by the administration.