West Virginia’s child care system is already strained by rising operating costs, staffing shortages and increasing demand from working families. But recent policy clarifications by the state have pushed licensed afterschool providers into a new level of financial instability that threatens the future of afterschool care and the stability of the state’s workforce.

On Sept. 25, licensed afterschool providers across the state were notified that they would no longer be reimbursed for services provided based on student enrollment unless a child spent four hours or more at least one day per month in their care. This is a standard that many afterschool providers will simply never meet because of school and family calendars. This change was rolled out as a clarification of existing policy, even t

See Full Page