Child care options in West Virginia during COVID-19

As of March 25, licensed and certified child care programs in West Virginia that wish to provide such services to essential workers should register as a Critical Care Child Care site through the WVDHHR website. Such sites are eligible to receive Tier III reimbursement rates. Under the state’s emergency plan, all people who meet the definition of an essential worker qualify for child care assistance, and may apply through their local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency.

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The moment we are in is highlighting just how essential dependent care is to our nation’s economy. In the absence of these critical services, frontline and other essential services workers would not be able to work and fully focus on their key role in addressing this public health crisis. In West Virginia, roughly 29,080 healthcare workers are parents of children under age 14 and may need child care support during the crisis. Over the past few weeks, all 50 U.S. states and D.C. have put into place emergency plans to allow child care for children of caregivers in essential services through the pandemic.