Good care makes good business

(Photo by Brett Dunlap)
State Delegate Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood, was the keynote speaker at the 2025 Annual Meeting for the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) at the Parkersburg Country Club in Vienna where he spoke about the need for good child care as a means to possibly draw companies to the state and create jobs.

VIENNA — Developing good child care could be a way of creating economic development, a state legislator said Friday.

State Delegate Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood, was the keynote speaker at the 2025 Annual Meeting for the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) at the Parkersburg Country Club in Vienna.

One of Fehrenbacher’s goals in the legislature has been to improve child care needs in the state.

“There are some things that need to be done,” he said. “It is a critical service for the children, parents, staff, employees and employers in the state of West Virginia.

“It is important in setting our children up for success.”

Fehrenbacher said there has been talk in the legislature about providing funding for programs to help young children get a good start on their development for their future success.

It also allows the parents to be able to go to work, he said.

There are rules and regulations in place for child care centers to be able to provide childcare. It is also “challenging” to be able to provide child care, Fehrenbacher said.

“However, if we do it well it ought to be very beneficial to the state in that it is a focus of economic development,” he said.

Employers need employees and employees need to know their children are safe and being looked after.

“Those things are very closely coupled,” Fehrenbacher said.

In West Virginia, there are 1,262 licensed providers with 38,777 licensed “seats.”

Statewide, 75% of available childcare “seats” are provided by childcare centers and 17% of those “seats” are provided by family members who may take in a number of children from family and neighbors.

However, overall, most child care is provided by family members or someone known to families.

Fehrenbacher said 40% of children in the state do not have access to childcare.

No one knows exactly how many “seats” are needed because not every child will be going to childcare, he said.

“The bottom line is we need more,” Fehrenbacher said.

Wood County has 49 providers, including 25 family providers, 17 child care centers and four Head Start programs. There are 1,847 licensed “seats” in the county, but around 44%of children locally do not have access to childcare.

There was a time when child care centers received federal funding based on their enrollments and billing was done based on attendance where some families needed child care five days a week and other times some may have only brought their child in two days a week.

That makes it difficult to be able to pay a staff who is able to show up daily. One problem is many child care staff are underpaid and offer minimum benefits, Fehrenbacher said.

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funding for enrollment based subsidies expired in 2023 and 2024. There are concerns over the loss of funding which has led to child care center closures.

Many centers were dependent on those subsidies to stay in business, Fehrenbacher said.

West Virginia is still paying for enrollment based childcare subsidies through money the state made available.

“The question is how long will that last,” Fehrenbacher asked. “When will more money need to be provided for that to happen?”

Fehrenbacher said it could cost over $50 million a year.

There was a state tax credit, but it only amounted to $250 per family or roughly $20 a month.

“I don’t think it will be a big substantial help for the well being of childcare centers,” Fehrenbacher said. People in more urban areas may travel up to three miles for childcare while people in more rural areas could drive 10 miles or more for childcare.

“If you can’t find one within 10 miles you are in a childcare desert,” Fehrenbacher said. “We have a lot of needs in this area.”

A number of bills regarding childcare died in committee last year due.

The state has been looking at the Tri-Share concept where the individual, employers and the state pay a portion for childcare costs. A pilot program was done in West Virginia through the Department of Economic Development. Fehrenbacher did not have a lot of details on the program, but he hopes it can be looked at.

The state has a new governor and a new Secretary of the Department of Human Services he wants to work with to see what can be done.

West Virginia has one of the lowest rate of workforce participation in the nation where 52 percent of the working age population works, Fehrenbacher said.

If child care is preventing people from working then that is something lawmakers need to address. Other factors could include healthcare and transportation that need to be looked at.

Parkersburg Area Community Foundation Executive Director Fred Rader said since the Tri-Share pilot program is handled through the Department of Economic Development it means state officials are taking the need for childcare seriously.

“It is a big issue in economic development insuring there is adequate childcare so there is an adequate workforce,” he said.