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WEIRTON -- West Virginia's child care providers are facing an uncertain future.
With COVID-related changes to reimbursement rates, child care providers were able to stay open, but, with the extension slated to end and policy addressing the state's child care reimbursement rates failing to move during this year's legislative session, many local child care providers are reaching out to their communities for support.
The fifth of seven "A Day Without Child Care" community town halls scheduled to be held in West Virginia, will take place at 6 p.m., Wednesday, in the Weirton Room of the Millsop Community Center. It is hosted by Miss Tiffany's Early Childhood Education House, operated by Weirton resident Tiffany Gale. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
According to Gale, the availability of child care has the potential to affect all facets of a community.
"Working families rely on child care so they can participate in the workforce, small businesses rely on their employees' attendance, and our local and state economies rely on businesses," she said.
The town hall will provide a firsthand look at some of the obstacles child care providers face.
According to Child Care Aware of America and TEAM For West Virginia Children, 42.6% of West Virginia children under the age of six need but cannot access child care. West Virginia rates 50th in the nation for child care accessibility, and 64% of West Virginia families live in a child care desert.
"In a state with one of, if not the, lowest workforce participation rates, child care is absolutely an economic justice issue," states community organizer Amy Jo Hutchison, representing MomsRising and the leader of the grassroots movement Rattle The Windows. "Without access to affordable and quality child care, families cannot work. People and businesses won't move into a state that does not have even the beginnings of a care infrastructure, and child care is an integral part of that."
Similar events already have been held in Oak Hill, Wheeling, Bridgeport and Harpers Ferry. A town hall also is scheduled for South Charleston on Wednesday, and in Lewisburg on May 11.
In addition, "A Day Without Child Care," is set to be observed across the nation on May 8
For more information on the Weirton town hall, contact Miss Tiffany's Early Childhood Education House at (614) 623-1871.