CHARLESTON W.Va. — An $8 million grant will help Save the Children expand West Virginia’s rural child care and early education workforce.

The majority of West Virginia households face barriers to child care access, and there are not enough providers to meet demand.

Brooke Smith, West Virginia assistant state director for Save the Children, said the organization is working to build up the local workforce with funding from the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies.

“Providers don’t have enough available slots, creating long wait lists for some parents,” Smith observed. “Some of our rural counties in West Virginia have as few as one provider available for the entire county, and we even have one or two that have zero providers available.”

The effort involving ARISE began in 2024 and is expected to help nearly 400 people over five years. It will also guide workforce development in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Since 2020, Save the Children’s early childhood education career pathways initiative has helped more than 700 people pursue a Child Development Associate Credential or a higher education degree in early childhood education.

Karen Harrison, lead adviser of workforce development for Save the Children, said the program also offers full or partial paid tuition, along with stipends.

“We want to be able to provide some cash so that individuals can use that towards child care, they can use it towards transportation, they can use it towards technology needs, whatever they might need individually,” Harrison outlined.

This year, West Virginia lawmakers passed major child care reforms through House Bill 4191, shifting from attendance-based to enrollment-based subsidy payments to help stabilize providers.