8.4 Public-Private Partnerships

Lead Agencies must demonstrate how they encourage partnerships among other public agencies, Tribal organizations, private entities, faith-based organizations, businesses, or organizations that promote business involvement, and/or community-based organizations to leverage existing service delivery (i.e., cooperative agreement among providers to pool resources to pay for shared fixed costs and operation) to leverage existing child care and early education service delivery systems and to increase the supply and quality of child care services for children younger than age 13. 8.4.1 Lead Agency public-private partnerships Identify and describe any public-private partnerships encouraged by the Lead Agency to leverage public and private resources to further the goals of CCDF: Partnerships at the state, community, and local levels are a critical part of delivering services in West Virginia’s early care and education system. These partnerships are used to raise quality and expand access to high-quality settings. Partnerships in West Virginia are evident in the Early Head Start/Child Care partnerships and the West Virginia PreK/child care classroom locations. Leadership from all these agencies work together to ensure the partnerships are working effectively. The Lead Agency also works with the Department of Public Health to offer individuals in recovery who have identified as a barrier to ongoing recovery and employment the need for child care. Both Jobs and Hope, a beginning-to-end program that allows an individual to receive free addiction treatment while, at the same time, receive free career technical education and the State Opioid Response program (a grant through SAMSHA). The Supplemental Child Care Assistance program provides alternative payment options for West Virginia's vulnerable population who would not normally qualify for federal child care subsidy funds. The Department of Public Health contracts with navigators who in turn work directly with the parent in recovery to access programs and services to aid in their recovery progress. The navigator is in contact with child care resource and referral agencies to work together to serve these clients. The Lead Agency has been working with the Workforce Resiliency Office to apply for grant funding to pilot a small TriShare program, titled the Mountain State Child Care Alliance Project, in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle. The Lead Agency submitted the grant application and awards are to be announced September 2024. Participating businesses in that region provided letters of support and a commitment to participation as part of the application process.