For the last couple years, child care in West Virginia has been in a tough spot, as noted in this post during the 2023 legislative session. Not surprisingly, this situation was made worse by the pandemic. Until very recently, child care providers were reimbursed based on attendance rather than enrollment. And that's a problem. Or was.
To quote from that earlier post,
In an era of pandemics, new variations on old illnesses, extreme weather events and the general weirdness of our time, attendance at school or child care varies widely.
Anyone with kids in school or child care knows that classrooms can empty out quickly when a new bug makes the rounds. Basing child care reimbursement on who happens to be there on any given day is no way to run this proverbial railroad. It provides no stability of care for parents who need to work and no stability of income for those who make that possible.
Enrollment-based reimbursement will help keep existing providers open, encourage new ones and help retain employees by providing a measure of stability and predictability of funding.
Child advocates, child care providers and parents tried hard in the last two legislative sessions to make this change in what has been called "the industry that makes other industries possible." Although the idea gained some traction, the legislation didn't make it across the line.
The good news is that it looks like that advocacy wasn't wasted. The WV Department of Health and Human Resources recently made this announcement:
The WV Department of Health & Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Family Assistance today announced additional funding to allow child care providers to be reimbursed based on enrollment through August 2024.
The pay-by-enrollment methodology was instituted during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency using federally allocated funds to provide financial stability and continued assurance of available child care, and was projected to be exhausted by September 2023.
“By reprioritizing use of available funds, DHHR can help child care providers continue to keep their doors open and help working families get the care they need as the child care operational budgets continue to stabilize post-pandemic,” said Janie Cole, Commissioner of DHHR’s Bureau for Family Assistance. “High quality child care supports both parents and children and is a critical investment in our state’s future.”
That's a huge win for workers, employers, kids and families.
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