3. Overview of Dependent Care Offerings in West Virginia

3.1. Where are Services Located?

View an interactive map that provides a visual of all licensed child care providers throughout West Virginia, conducted by The Ross Foundation. 

The tool’s purpose is not only to aid caregivers in their search for such services, but also to offer a clearer picture of apparent deserts [73] and scaling opportunities in the state. According to the results of a recent collaborative survey, 32 percent of parents report difficulties in finding child care and 72 percent cite at least one challenge in finding care, including cost, location, hours, quality or trust [74]. Challenges are more significant for those who live in rural areas, work evening or night shifts and look for care for infants and toddlers [75].

It is important to keep in mind that the map below only lists formal child care providers that are registered with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. However, organized care is rarely the sole type of care that families rely on [76]. As previously mentioned, dependent care services are often highly costly to the average working family when conducted through the market [77]. For this reason, due to the lack of affordable options and limited availability of care providers in some areas, several families resort to the underground economy and other types of informal care arrangements, including caregiving provided by relatives or a member of the family social network. Those types of care arrangements are difficult to tract, and, therefore, are not depicted in the map.

View an interactive map that offers a visual of adult dependent care providers in the Cabell, Kanawha and Preston counties, conducted by Marshall University Research Corporation and The Ross Foundation. 

Since there is no single, comprehensive, up-to-date database that lists all licensed adult dependent care providers in West Virginia, the map featured in this analysis is limited to a three-county area. Also, while the policy considerations and ideas outlined in this paper focus on adult day programs, the featured map includes in-home care programs and congregate setting adult care programs. Since one of the purposes of the map is to function as a resource for familial caregivers in search of adult care services, the map is not limited to adult day programs. It also features care services that would likely free an individual to work at a full-time job or take part in an educational or training program.

In an effort to track such providers, the researchers relied on publicly available databases, and complemented their investigation through the use of search engines and direct contact by phone or email. For these reasons, in order to put together a statewide map, the research team would need more time and personnel to complete this task in a timely manner. Additionally, due to the lack of affordable and accessible adult dependent care options, many families rely on the informal economy and alternative types of care, including unpaid care provided by family members and relatives. As in the case of child care providers, such types of care arrangements are not included in the interactive map.