West Virginia, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.
State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.
Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.
Young Children in Low-Income Households: Declining
Approximately 49% (79,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200% FPL (2022). This number represents a decrease from 50% (88,000) in 2017.1
Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High
Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200% FPL than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.2
State General Fund Appropriations: Growing
West Virginia’s governor signed the fiscal 2025 budget bill into law on March 14 with three objections. Total appropriations from the general, lottery, and excess lottery funds are $5.48 billion, an increase of $133.1 million, or 2.5 percent, over fiscal 2024 appropriations. General revenue fund appropriations total $4.99 billion in fiscal 2025, an increase of 2.6 percent over fiscal 2024. The general revenue fund estimate for fiscal 2025 is $5.26 billion, an increase of 7.8 percent compared to fiscal 2024.e.3
Key Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):4
Charges are public payments connected with a specific government service, such as tuition paid to a state university, payments to a public hospital, or highway tolls.
State Budget Rules:4
West Virginia uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget, but it can carry a deficit over into the following year. West Virginia does not have any tax or expenditure limits. West Virginia does limit total authorized debt incurred by the state but not debt service.
Political Alignment: Aligned Republican
During the 2024 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.5
Types of Ballot Measures Available:6 One
Key State Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:
Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:7
Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:8
Advocates won passage of SB 190, which removes the marriage exemption from West Virginia’s sexual abuse laws. Prior to this bill being passed, there were be no grounds to charge a spouse with sexual abuse—even if they admitted to law enforcement it had occurred. It was an absolute defense to be married to the person sexually abused, because that defense was codified in WV law. Though advocates have been attempting to pass this bill for many sessions, it has suffered in the past from deep misunderstanding of the code and misguided concerns. This year the bill was finally passed by both chambers and signed into law.
Advocates continue to successfully advocate to the WV Department of Human Services to continue expanding Family Support Centers to serve additional counties in West Virginia. There are now 56 Family Support Centers serving families across the state, which is a significant increase over the past 3 years.
Our grantee in West Virginia, TEAM for West Virginia Children (TEAM), works with communities and families to advance the well-being of children, making their needs and healthy development a priority. TEAM partners with an integrated network of programs to advocate for children, champion family-friendly communities, educate the public, and strengthen families. They convene a Legislative Action Team of the state’s leading organizations to monitor pending legislation and advocate for policies and legislative proposals that benefit children.
TEAM for West Virginia Children is working to advance early childhood policies in several areas:
Child Care
Maternal Health
Paid Family Leave
Child Welfare
Home Visiting
Family Economic Security
Click here for more information on advocates’ policy agenda.
TEAM for West Virginia Children, the West Virginia Association for Young Children and Child Care Aware of America have rolled out a new West Virginia child care dashboard — an interactive map illustrating the gap between child care supply and demand. The tool is already proving effective for communicating the issue to policymakers and broader community.
NOTES:
1 Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.
2 National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.
3 National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2025.
4 Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, June 2024.
5 National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, April 29, 2024.
6 Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, retrieved July, 2024.
7 Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.
8 Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2024; and 2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights, Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, July, 2024.
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© 2024 Alliance for Early Success
The Alliance for Early Success does not endorse or advocate for specific legislation or candidates.
