A child care subsidy for families needs tens of millions of dollars to operate through the end of the year. Gov. Jim Justice said he will ask lawmakers to tackle the child care issue in August and approve his child and dependent tax credit.
by La Shawn Pagán
This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week; sign up for the free newsletter at https://mountainstatespotlight.org/newsletter.
When West Virginia lawmakers return to Charleston next week, a subsidy program that helps thousands of families afford child care will be days away from running out of money.
That program needs $23 million to survive the rest of the budget year without service cuts.
Gov. Jim Justice said he wants lawmakers to address child care, and will ask lawmakers to revisit his bill to give 16,000 West Virginians an estimated $4.2 million in income tax credits. The governor has not clearly said if he will propose a budget change to give the subsidy program the money it needs.
Even if lawmakers, set for a special session timed to coincide with interim meetings Aug. 25-27, passed both the governor’s child care tax credit and rescued the subsidy program, it is unlikely to be nearly enough to provide West Virginians the child care help they really need, according to a new analysis and position paper from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
Across the state, there are over 60,000 children under the age of six with working parents, but only 39,000 licensed child care slots available. That leaves an estimated 20,000 children, who may be in need of care, without it.
Millions of dollars more in various types of state assistance are needed, for families and for child care providers, to ensure West Virginia workers can contribute to the state economy while their kids are taken care of during the work day, according to the center’s report.
“We understand the tax credits would benefit families, but it’s not going to keep child care open, and it’s definitely not going to stabilize the child care industry,” said Amy Jo Hutchinson, the West Virginia campaign director at MomsRising, a national nonprofit that works on issues affecting women and families.
The child care subsidy program, recently expanded by the Biden administration, provides direct payments for services. These payments allow facilities to stay open, hire, train and retain staff.
The program helps low-income families afford child care, and served about 15,000 West Virginia families in 2023. Without the additional funding, cuts in the program could affect up to 2,000 families, state officials have said.
A spokesperson with the Department of Human Services said agency officials are working on a “contingency plan” if lawmakers don’t provide additional funding for the program.
During the regular session earlier this year, the governor proposed a child care tax credit bill that he said would benefit 16,000 families in the state.
The bill would have granted a state income tax credit worth half of a family’s federal child care tax credit. But the credit would generally not have been available to the state’s lowest-income families.
Despite efforts from lawmakers like Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, who tried twice to fund the program, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, saying child care was going to be a priority during the session, legislation to address the crisis stalled. Versions of the governor’s bill, for example, died in both the Senate and the House. Other lawmakers have said it’s not the government’s responsibility to provide access to child care.
More than 60 child care providers have closed across the state since Jan. 1, costing the state 725 child care slots, according to Melissa Colagrosso, who is director for A Place to Grow, a child care center in Oak Hill, and follows the issue closely.
“What good is a tax credit if you can’t even get your child enrolled in the center or a home provider?” she said.
As the special session approaches, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy last week published a new paper outlining holes in the state’s child care system and advocating for more funding assistance.
The group recommends that the state either provide additional subsidies, raise reimbursement rates, or allocate more funds toward enrollment-based reimbursements. The three suggestions together would amount to an up to $100 million investment by the state.
There is lots of evidence of the long term benefits and positive effects of early childhood education, according to Kelly Allen, the center’s executive director.
“It’s important to look ahead and think of ways that we can improve on the child welfare or child care system in West Virginia,” she said. “Investing in kids and their learning and their growth sets up so much of the future.”
