Child care assistance for thousands of West Virginia children is still in limbo as the Department of Human Services needs between $23 million and $30 million to cover a funding gap. Lawmakers are unlikely to step in and provide funds to the department as the embattled agency already has the money to cover the gap.
The Department of Health has used federal emergency funds to subsidize daycare centers to avoid a Sept. 1 crisis. Financing cliffwhich could remove 2,000 children from the program by next month. Governor Jim Justice said on Thursday that the money could sustain the program until the end of the year.
“We have found enough federal funding to fully cover the cost of our centers through the end of the year,” he said. “We need to make sure we improve child care because that’s what draws young people to this great state, and we need a workforce.”
But how the Department of Health will pay for the costs beyond that — and the state’s plans to adequately fund child care over the long term — remain questions that the department has not yet clarified with lawmakers, child care providers, families, or this news outlet.
“We’re just entrepreneurs right now, struggling to get money for families,” said Jennifer Trippett, owner of Cubby’s Child Care Center in Bridgeport. “It’s impossible to run a business when you don’t know what the funding is going to be in six months.”
The center serves 450 families; about 50% of these children benefit from the federal child care assistance program, which pays the center on a per-child basis.
“We have been told there are funds, but no one can say where they will come from,” she said.
The Federal Government recently commissioned without states subsidizing child care funding based on total enrollment rather than attendance. In 2023, approximately 15,000 families in West Virginia used the Child Care Assistance Program.
The Department of Health has used funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to cover the cost of child care subsidies.
“The plan is to use TANF dollars as long as possible,” said Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor.
“My goal is for families to be less nervous,” she continued. “I wish we had a clear answer. I’m worried about these families and children and their plans. I would like to have accurate information.”
TANF dollars are not permanently available, and Health Department officials said they would notify families and providers 60 days in advance if funding changes.
The Department of Health did not respond to multiple interview requests or questions from West Virginia Watch about child care. A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story.
Sean Horbuckle, Democrat from Cabell, leader of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, said that his group had tried, with little success, to obtain information from the Ministry of Health on the financing issue.
The lack of communication from child care providers and families is “disrespectful to the citizens of West Virginia on such an important issue,” he said.
The Ministry of Health says it is the problem that the legislature must solve, the legislators disagree
DoHS Secretary Cynthia Persily to WV News on August 16 that it would need to provide additional funds for the deficit from the legislature and that it would not rely on a recently created 180 million dollar reserve fund.
Lawmakers concerned about the Ministry of Health Spending transparencyrequired in the The invoice that the Ministry of Health reports to it all expenditures from the reserve. It does not prohibit the ministry from using the money for the child care assistance program.
“[Speaker Roger Hanshaw] is confident that the Department of Human Services has sufficient funds to continue child care assistance … and the Speaker is also confident that the Secretary will be able to draw on the Department’s reserve fund to cover short-term funding shortfalls for this purpose with relative ease,” said Ann Ali, communications director for the House of Representatives.
Hornbuckle said he did not want to focus on “who was right or wrong.”
“This is not the time to hide things, tell fables or distort the truth. Let us find out why we have not made progress on this issue and then move on,” he said.Besides hurting parents and children, it also hurts the economy. It’s a tough thing.”
He also noted that Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, prioritized childcare legislation during the session.
With over 20,000 childcare places necessary In the state, Republican leaders had also said it was a priority as they sought to address the chronically low rate labor force participation.
But a Bundle of bipartisan bills The bill focused on improving access to child care. It never came to a vote in the House or Senate. Then, during the special session in May, lawmakers rejected a bipartisan amendment that would have required the Department of Health and Human Services to spend part of the $180 million reserve on child care, thus avoiding the current funding gap.
The funding cliff is unlikely to be addressed in a special session in August, should Justice decide to call one. He has championed child and foster care benefits. Tax credit that would 16,300 eligible families can claim up to 50% of the allowable federal tax credit.
“I think I conclude that the governor did not give us this funding. He had opportunities during the session and [May] special session,” Summers said. “He wants his tax credit.”
Further problems for childcare providers
Lawmakers will be at the State Capitol on Sunday to celebrate the start of August Interim meetingsTrippett and other child care providers will hold a rally at 2:30 p.m. to call on lawmakers to resolve the funding problem.
While the state school enrollment subsidy model will facilitate stabilize the income of daycare centers, Trippet stressed that the Ministry of Health must enhance its subsidies for children.
The state lost 750 childcare places have to be cut this year because the funding amount could not keep pace with the rising operating costs.
“I lose a lot of money with every child that needs help,” she said. “Since 2019, any daycare that hires someone with or without a degree who has an education has to pay $17 an hour instead of $9 to $10 an hour, because that’s the price fast food pays. And the cost of food has tripled.”
