A parent juggles work and child care. (ohei Hara/Getty Images)
As federal relief funds dry up, Virginia policymakers are increasingly looking for solutions to residents’ problems in securing affordable child care.
Jess Mullins Fullen, a mother of two children in Southwest Virginia, said she and her husband work full-time to pay for their most expensive cost: child care.
“There are bigger issues in the world, but workforce support and child care is one of those things where if I’m feeling the impacts — and I can admit that I have certain privileges because of my job and because I’m able to stay at home — I can’t imagine what it’s like for people who don’t have that same kind [of] fluidity when it comes to their workspace,” said Mullins Fullen.
State report finds child care is unaffordable for most Va. families with young kids
Now, legislators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration have put forward more than a dozen bills and budget proposals that focus on increasing the flow of funding to early childhood education and child care, expanding program eligibility and bolstering the provider pool by removing certain requirements and offering incentives.