Trending
West Virginia parents don't need a formal study to tell them it is not easy to find affordable, accessible child care here. But we've got one anyway, as the 2023 Kids Count Data Book shows we are 42nd in child wellbeing, with child care struggles pushing more families into poverty.
"The state's lack of affordable and accessible childcare short-changes children and causes parents in West Virginia to frequently miss work or even quit their jobs, while those who can find care are paying dearly for it," reads the report, produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Among the hoped-for solutions pitched by Kristy Ritz, the West Virginia Association for Young Children executive director and member of the KIDS COUNT network, during this year's legislative session was to base reimbursements to childcare providers on enrollment rather than actual attendance.
Ritz told lawmakers basing reimbursements on enrollment instead of attendance would have created more financial stability for providers. Providers would then have been able to increase their childcare slots. Giving parents greater access to child care means more of them can work. It's as simple as that.
But affordability is a challenge, too. West Virginia's average cost of center-based childcare for a toddler was $7,955, 9% of the median income of a married couple and 35% of a single mother's income.
Recommendations include federal, state and local government spending, of course.
"Congress should reauthorize and strengthen the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, while the West Virginia Legislature should pass a bill to base childcare reimbursements on enrollment, rather than attendance," the foundation says.
It also puts some responsibility on the rest of us, however. The foundation suggests public and private leaders should work together to improve the infrastructure for home-based child care.
It will take a team effort to give parents the support they need not only to provide for their families, but to become productive parts of our state's economy.