Will West Virginia lawmakers address the state’s inadequate child care this year?

February 4, 2026

The average cost of child care in West Virginia is about $800 per month for one child, according to research from the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

“Parents and kids simply just need more access. We need more slots,” Hornbuckle said. “We need more availability and making sure our quality of care is high on the provider side.”

Brian Dayton, vice president of policy and advocacy for the state’s Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber remains a staunch advocate for accessible and affordable child care.

“Our members, who collectively employ over half of West Virginia’s workforce, consistently tell us that child care is a critical workforce and economic development hurdle,” he said.

Legislation targets supporting child care staff

Child care centers are struggling to stay open, and hundreds of providers have closed their doors in the last two years.

One issue is attracting and retaining staff.

The median hourly wage for the state’s child care workers is $11.48, according to labor data.

Child care providers have asked lawmakers to create the “Child Care Workforce Scholarship Act.” The estimated $5.2 million program would establish child care scholarships for all child care employees.

“Many people get into this field because they have kids and they love kids,” said Katelyn Vandal, director of A Place To Grow child care center in Fayette County. “Being able to be part of the field and have their child care covered would be a really great motivation for those who are in the field to stay in the field.”

Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, is supporting the measure, sponsoring Senate Bill 429 that would enact it.

“With West Virginia at the bottom of workforce participation in the country, if we can create a system where we can provide some modest scholarship dollars to pay for children to receive child care where their parent is the worker … we think we can significantly change the number of people in our workforce,” he said.

Another measure, House Bill 4067, sponsored by Hess Crouse, would provide a subsidy for the children of childcare professionals (working at least 20 hours per week) to help workers afford child care.

“Hopefully that can go through and maybe at least build up the workforce,” Hess Crouse said.

Financial issues have also plagued child care providers, and some of that is tied to the high number of families using state subsidies to help pay for child care. The providers say the subsidy rate hasn’t kept up with the true rate of providing child care.

The West Virginia Association of Young Children, which brings together early childhood professionals, is asking lawmakers to align state child care subsidy reimbursement rates with “the true cost of providing quality care.” It has an estimated price tag of $18.7 million.

The state also recently switched from an enrollment to attendance policy in how it reimburses centers that serve children using child care subsidies. An enrollment pay structure helps providers stay financially secure because more children are typically enrolled than attend due to illnesses or other family needs.

Child care providers, many of whom were surprised by the change, can only be paid in full if children attend for at least four hours a day once a month.

Meghan Hullinger no longer has children using child care but she easily remembers when she depended on reliable child care when she finished her degree and worked as a single mom. She came from Pocahontas County to the state Capitol this week with her children to advocate for child care bills.

She noted the state’s roughly $108 billion in surplus money could be used to fund child care legislation.

“There are solutions to these problems,” she said. “We should invest in families, especially if we want families to stay here, if we want to quit exporting our kids, if we want them to have a future in West Virginia.”