Tandem Brings Purpose-Built Child Care Staffing to Pennsylvania

We're excited to officially announce that Tandem is launching in Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia is our first market in the state, and it marks our fifth state overall — joining the communities we already serve across Ohio, Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina.

Why Pennsylvania, and Why Now

Since we started Tandem, we've matched thousands of teachers with classrooms in need of extra help. Every shift completed taught us something about what this industry needs — and what it's been missing.

The challenges child care programs face aren't unique to one city or one state. Director burnout, teacher shortages, complicated compliance requirements, thin margins — these are everywhere. Pennsylvania is no exception, and Philadelphia in particular is a community where we believe Tandem can make a meaningful impact.

We don't launch in new states lightly. Every state has different licensing standards, different workforce dynamics, and different realities on the ground. We take the time to build our platform around those specifics so that when we show up, we're genuinely ready to help — not just technically live.

What We're Building in Philadelphia

If you're not familiar with Tandem, here's the short version: we're a staffing platform built exclusively for child care. Not adapted from a general staffing model. Not a temp agency with a child care add-on. Everything about our platform — from how we vet teachers to how we match them with centers — was designed around the way this industry actually works.

A few things that make Tandem different:

Centers set the rate. You decide what you pay your substitutes. That protects pay equity on your team — your subs won't make more than your full-time staff — and it keeps your costs well below what traditional staffing agencies charge.

We match on your terms. When you post a job, you set the qualifications: credentials, age group experience, availability, whatever matters for that classroom. We match you with teachers who meet those requirements — not just whoever happens to be available.

Compliance is built in. Every teacher in our Pennsylvania pool is being vetted against the state's specific clearance, background check, and training requirements before they're ever available to book. And we don't stop at day one — we help teachers maintain their compliance over time, because this isn't a one-and-done process.

There's no commitment. No subscriptions, no monthly minimums. You only pay when a teacher actually works a shift at your center.

Our Approach to Growing in a New Market

We want to be upfront about how this works: we're not showing up with hundreds of teachers ready to go on day one. That's not how we operate, and honestly, that's not how you build something that lasts.

We're starting by building the substitute teacher pool in Philadelphia — recruiting qualified teachers, helping them through Pennsylvania's compliance process, and getting them cleared and ready to work. At the same time, we're connecting with centers across the region so that as the pool grows, the demand is there to match it.

Centers that create a free profile now get early access to browse teachers as they join the pool and will be first in line to book when they're ready. It's a head start that pays off.

From Philadelphia, we plan to expand across the state in the months ahead. Our playbook is the same one that's worked in every market we've entered: start strong in one area, build real infrastructure, and grow outward as the network strengthens.

From Short-Term Coverage to Long-Term Connection

One of the things we're most proud of at Tandem is what happens after the shift ends.

We designed our model so that after a Tandem teacher works 120 hours at your center, you can bring them onto your payroll — no placement fee, no strings attached. We did that on purpose, because our goal was never to keep great teachers from you. It's to help you find them.

We've watched it happen across every market we serve. A center books a sub for a tough Monday. That sub comes back the next week. Then the week after. Before long, they know the kids, they know the routines, and the center realizes they've found someone special. We want that transition to be seamless — and we never want a fee to get in the way.

That's the foundation we're building in Pennsylvania. Not just a staffing tool, but a network of connection between centers and teachers that grows stronger over time.

Join Us

Whether you're a child care center in the Philadelphia area looking for a better approach to staffing, or a teacher looking for flexible, meaningful work in classrooms that need you — we'd love to have you be part of this.

Centers: Create your free profile to start browsing teachers as they join the pool in your area.

Teachers: Download the Tandem app to get started on your compliance steps and be ready to book shifts as centers begin posting.

We've spent years building Tandem into something that genuinely works for child care. Philadelphia is the next chapter, and we couldn't be more excited to get started.

Let's build something great together.

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