When West Virginia lawmakers return to Charleston next week, a subsidy program that helps thousands of families pay for child care will soon run out of money.

This program needs $23 million to survive the remainder of the fiscal year without service cuts.

Gov. Jim Justice said he wants lawmakers to address child care and will ask lawmakers to revise his bill that would provide an estimated $4.2 million in earned income tax credits to 16,000 West Virginians. The governor has not said clearly whether he will propose a budget amendment to give the subsidy program the money it needs.

Even if lawmakers were to pass both the governor’s child care tax credit and save the subsidy program in a special session running concurrently with the Aug. 25-27 midterms, it would hardly be enough to provide West Virginians with the child care assistance they really need, according to a new analysis and position paper from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Across the state, there are over 60,000 children under the age of six with working parents, but only 39,000 licensed child care spaces. That means an estimated 20,000 children who may need care are left without care.

According to the center’s report, additional federal support in various forms for families and child care facilities is needed to ensure that West Virginia workers can contribute to the state’s economy while their children are cared for during the workday.

“We understand that the tax credits would benefit families, but they will not sustain child care and they certainly will not stabilize the child care industry,” says Amy Jo Hutchinson, West Virginia campaign director for MomsRising, a statewide nonprofit that works on issues affecting women and families.

The Child Care Subsidy Program, recently expanded by the Biden administration, provides direct payments for services. These payments enable facilities to stay open and hire, train and retain staff.

The program helps low-income families afford child care and benefited about 15,000 West Virginia families in 2023. Without the additional funding, cuts to the program could affect up to 2,000 families, state officials said.

A Department of Human Services spokesman said agency officials are working on an “emergency plan” in case lawmakers do not provide additional funding for the program.

During the regular session earlier this year, the governor proposed a child care tax credit bill that he said would benefit 16,000 families in the state.

The bill would have provided a state income tax credit equal to half of a family’s federal child care credit. However, the credit would generally have been inaccessible to the state’s lowest-income families.

Despite efforts by lawmakers like Rep. Amy Summers (R-Taylor), who twice tried to fund the program, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R-Clay), who said during the session that child care would be a priority, legislation to address the crisis stalled. For example, versions of the governor’s bill were defeated in both the Senate and House. Other lawmakers said it is not the government’s responsibility to provide access to child care.

More than 60 daycare centers across the state have closed since Jan. 1, costing the state 725 daycare spaces, according to Melissa Colagrosso, director of A Place to Grow, a daycare center in Oak Hill who has been closely following the issue.

“What good is a tax credit if you can’t even enroll your child in the facility or with a residential provider?” she said.

Shortly before the special session, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy released a new document last week highlighting gaps in the state’s child care system and advocating for more financial support.

The group recommends that the state either provide additional subsidies, increase reimbursement rates or provide more funding for membership-based reimbursements. Together, the three proposals would represent an investment of up to $100 million from the state.

According to Kelly Allen, the center’s executive director, there is ample evidence of the long-term benefits and positive impacts of early childhood education.

“It’s important to look forward and think about how we can improve the child welfare or child care system in West Virginia,” she said. “Investing in children and their education and growth determines so much of the future.”