On today’s episode of The Confluence: The first director of Allegheny County’s Department of Children Initiatives, Rebecca Mercatoris, lays out her vision for the department; the North Allegheny School District board has voted to make mask-wearing optional, but the decision could be overruled by the state Supreme Court; and author Yaa Gyasi discusses about her second book, “Transcendent Kingdom,” which is included as part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Ten Evenings Series.