6:30 a.m: A parent awakens to their alarm to get ready for their day at work, but before their feet can even hit the ground, they are left with the familiar worrying question- “Who will watch my children?”
The children are too young to be enrolled in school, it’s too late to arrange a reliable babysitter, and it’s far too expensive to afford any childcare center in the area. As the clock ticks faster by the minute, the question remains. It seems as though the impossible choices seem to escalate- getting to work on time is essential to provide, yet leaving the children without proper care isn’t an option. However, parents should not have to face the appalling reality of childcare in the status quo. Where prices rise higher than the framework it’s built upon.
Yet all across West Virginia, and the country, it has unfortunately become the reality for millions of parents. With the constantly rising prices of childcare, the options quickly become minute, making it nearly impossible to house a job, feed a family, and afford childcare simultaneously.
Looking at the map, West Virginia tends to be one of the states that doesn’t get much recognition. While childcare continues to present an issue across the nation, West Virginia sees attempts to turn crisis into care. The inhabitants of West Virginia have noticed the quality of childcare, noted its multifaceted nature, and have started and accomplished initiatives to help address these disparities.
Terra Crews is the executive director of Holy Family Childcare and Development Center. Crews is a direct case of how the people are crafting solutions when parties like the government aren’t doing anything to alleviate these families from the burden of childcare.
“Our state is already facing a crisis in childcare. We are all vital for the success and health of our children. Without sustainable child care, we would face even more challenges than we already do,” said Crews.
However, what do these initiatives look like? Terra Crews explains this, that a crisis nursery is one way to help with childcare in the state. The mission of the crisis nursery is to prevent neglect and abuse by helping provide 24-hour care for families in crisis to help strengthen not only families, but the community as a whole. West Virginia lacks these initiatives, but through the crisis nursery, it helps build the infrastructure needed to rebuild childcare.
“Our state is one of the leading states for children entering foster care, and we fall in one of the lowest states for reunification. Our families are hurting, and our children are suffering. Families living in communities with established crisis nurseries in Illinois are two times more likely to be reunified once they enter foster care than families in communities without a nursery. This is an evidence-based solution to help address our dire need for more support for our children and their families,” said Crews.
However, this initiative makes some people come forward with questions. The misrepresentation of it is that the overall idea of a crisis nursery may be new to the state of West Virginia, but not to the nation. In states like Illinois, Arizona, and Utah, they see these same structured nurseries and see solvency through them.
“For years, crisis nurseries have supported families and impacted the lives of so many children. Our state is unique in that facilities may not be needed in every area, and that’s why we are not just focusing on a facility in the northern Panhandle, but we are also developing a network to reach every child in every part of West Virginia. I wholeheartedly believe that if this were put at the forefront of priorities, it would help solve some of the issues that we’ve seen in the headlines this past year,” said Crews.
If we want to help children, this is the push that is needed. However, pushes need people behind them. These projects to help alleviate the constant burden of childcare need the community behind them to push for their startup. Crews expand upon how, because of the introduction of these nurseries to the state, licensing is the biggest hurdle they have to face, yet they continue their efforts. The first West Virginia crisis nursery is set to open in the Ohio Valley in 2026.
“It has been very difficult to determine the best route. Of course, funding is always an issue because again, we are a pilot program. I am with a national advocacy association for a $3 million pilot program that will help fund new crisis nurseries throughout the United States. Thankfully, we have some really great community partners who have rallied behind us to fund our efforts thus far, and the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has provided our first facility in Wheeling, West Virginia, but it does require renovations that we are seeking funding for at this point,” said Crews.
The efforts don’t stop there in West Virginia. HB 4191 is another prime example of the initiative to help fix childcare in the state. Amy Jo Hutchinson is one of the many faces behind the idea of this house bill. She explained how childcare is the workforce behind the workforce, and outlined how it is vital for the state.
“W.Va has been experiencing a child care crisis for decades. DoHS released a report that showed over 200 child care programs had closed. We know that 46% of W.Va kids under the age of six have no available child care. And child care is one of the best protective factors for a child, which is even more important in the height of our foster care crisis,” said Hutchinson.
HB 4191 was passed after years in the making with a vote of 89-4. This is a turning point within the childcare sector, and a step in how the United States, and uniquely West Virginia, can help it. This bill helps with a 50% tax credit on capital and operating childcare costs, provider reimbursements, modernizes payments to childcare providers, provides cliff effect relief, and helps replace the abrupt loss of all child care assistance when a family’s income rises with graduated copayments to keep families afloat.
“I hope that all of our care needs are greatly improved over the next five to 10 years. With the state investing in child care, the industry can expand to meet the needs of W.Va families. We hope to have a model of state reimbursements based on the true cost of care and a focus on increased incentives for child care workers, such as covering the cost of child care for child care workers,” said Hutchinson.
What West Virginia needs to do is pay attention. This issue needs to be addressed, and as people are looking to change and help this issue, the only people who can do it are the people of the state. The state can’t sit around and notice this is a problem and wait for others to act. Childcare affects everyone, even if you don’t have children.
“Childcare affects all of us. Your doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, Uber drivers, teachers….every working parent you know needs someone to care for their child. And when your nurses and waitresses and lawyers cannot find child care, that affects you,” said Hutchinson.
Then, we look into the ideology of childcare and how it is misrepresented through societal norms, and how we as a society need to change that. Childcare isn’t left for one community to fix, one person to fix, one mother to fix; it’s for the country to fix.
“Child care isn’t a ‘woman’s’ issue; it’s a family issue. There is room in the advocacy space for everyone, regardless of whether they have children of child care age or not. And we cannot have an honest conversation about economic or workforce development without it,” said Hutchinson.
6:30 am: That same parent wakes up to the same alarm to face a long day at work to provide for their family. However, if West Virginia continues to invest in crisis nurseries, help pass house bills, and overall help start initiatives to improve childcare, the question that those parents dread begins to fade away. Instead of asking the burdening question of, “Who will watch my children?”, parents should be confident that their community, their state, and their country have real and sustainable childcare systems. Childcare should not be treated as an individual problem to solve before your alarm goes off; it is instead a shared responsibility that shapes not only families, but workforces, the economy, and most importantly, the future.
