CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Over the past year, childcare providers and employees in West Virginia have been advocating for funding needed to maintain their facilities, and with no luck in the last legislative session, their time is running out.
Childcare providers across West Virginia are hosting public forums to help call attention to the dire need for funding from the state to keep in operation.
On Monday evening, Gov. Justice shared a Facebook post announcing a $522.9 million surplus in the state’s budget, with the comment section quickly flooding with “#solvechildcare.”
Last month, a federal law was passed that requires states to pay childcare providers based on the number of children enrolled within the facility, rather than the number of students in attendance. This is what the majority of childcare providers were hoping for, but the state has yet to respond with solutions for where the funding will come from.
12 News spoke with West Virginia’s campaign director of Mom’s Rising, Amy Jo Hutchison, on what inspired childcare providers to stay proactive in drawing attention to the issue.
“We went in pretty positive about this, we had been told repeatedly by a number of folks that childcare was going to be a legislative priority. And then when the session ended, childcare pretty much never made it out of the finance committee,” said Hutchison, “We were very disappointed in that, and we decided that it was time for us to come back again. It’s no longer going to be just a day without childcare, we’re going to use last year’s graphics and make it a state without childcare because nothing was done.”
Cubby’s Childcare Center in Bridgeport is the largest childcare provider in the state. Last summer, Cubby’s owner Jennifer Tripett had to close eight classrooms, despite the daycare’s waiting list of more than 400 students.
Tripett said that if the state couldn’t provide the necessary funds by this September, she would be left with three options: to upcharge all families paying out of pocket, to not accept students who receive subsidies for daycare assistance or shut down the daycare.
Triplett also struggles to maintain staff with the lack of pay and benefits as payroll is also derived from this funding. This has caused Jennifer and many other childcare providers across to state to ask the public for help.
Over the next two months, eight public forums will be held throughout the state to bring attention to local politicians. You can find information on the closest forum in your area below.
