An innovative partnership among employers, child care providers, and the State of West Virginia to make child care more affordable for parents.
West Virginia’s labor force participation rate is 54.8%, which is last in the nation. Accessible and affordable childcare is a key element to getting people back to work. Moreover, child care benefits have a positive impact on talent recruitment (81%), retention (80%), and productivity (82%).
Through West Virginia’s new Tri-Share Program, the cost of an employee's child care is shared among the employer, the employee, and the State of West Virginia. The program is administered seamlessly by Wonderschool, ensuring easy, accurate, and timely coordination of payments. With the West Virginia Tri-Share Program, parents can get back to work knowing that their kids are safe, cared for and have the opportunity to succeed.
The West Virginia Tri-Share Program makes childcare more affordable because the cost is shared by the Employer and the State. The process is simple:
Participating employers determine the monthly percentage of their employee’s childcare tuition they wish to pay.
The State of West Virginia provides a matching contribution, based on the employee’s household income. See the table below.
Those funds are collected and sent to the participating childcare provider. The employee pays the remaining balance of the tuition.
Submit your monthly child care tuition, household growth income and employer contributions in the fields shown, in order to find out how much West Virginia will contribute to your tuition costs.
For more detailed info, please contact Wonderschool at [email protected] .
Improve Your Employee Recruitment and Retention
Through West Virginia’s new Tri-Share Program, the cost of child care is shared by your employee, the State of West Virginia, and you. Research strongly supports that investing in your employees’ childcare leads to increased recruitment, retention, and productivity.
The best part is you have tremendous choice in how you choose to participate. You decide the amount to contribute toward your employee’s monthly childcare tuition, and the number of employees to support. Independent contractors are not eligible for this benefit.
Download this supplemental information guide about the tax benefits for participating.
Employer Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to participate, you must be a for-profit company that conducts business in one of the following counties: Boone, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam, Roane, or Wirt.
Nonprofit organizations and public agencies are not eligible at this time to participate in the pilot.
Lower Your Childcare Costs by Up to 66%
Through West Virginia’s new Tri-Share Program, the cost of child care is shared by you, your employer and the State of West Virginia. Depending on your employer’s contribution and your household income, that means your childcare costs could be lowered by up to 66%. Plus, you get to choose which child care provider you prefer.
Choose the Right Childcare Provider For You
Any licensed childcare provider can participate in the West Virginia Tri-Share Program. Find a list of participating childcare providers here. If you do not see your current childcare provider, encourage them to enroll here. It is absolutely free. Or, you can search Wonderschool for childcare options near you.
Employee Eligibility Requirements
If your employer participates in West Virginia’s Tri-Share Program, you are eligible to participate if you meet the following requirements:
Find a list of participating employers here. If you do not see your employer listed, encourage your employer to enroll here.
Receive Timely and Consistent Payments
Good news for your current and future enrolled families. Now those families' of participating Employers and the State of West Virginia are helping to cover the cost of tuition. Best of all, it’s free for you to participate, so long as you are a licensed childcare provider operating in West Virginia.
If you have a parent participating, you will receive timely and consistent payments that combine the contributions of the family, the employer, and the state. This should help you stabilize your business, attract new enrollments, and create a happier experience for everyone.
Childcare Provider Eligibility Requirements
For-profit childcare providers that are licensed or registered by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources are eligible to participate. Nonprofits, public schools, and head starts are not eligible to participate at this time.
The process for getting involved and ensuring quick, accurate and timely collection of and administration of payments is easy:
The Employer opts to enroll and help subsidize the cost of childcare for one or more of its employees. The Employer decides how much it will pay each month.
The Employee at the participating Employer enrolls and selects the childcare provider they will use.
The Childcare Provider enrolls.
Wonderschool finalizes the tuition portion that the Employer, the Employee and the State of West Virginia will pay.
Wonderschool collects the funds each month from the different parties and disperses it as a single payment to the Childcare Provider.
