In March 2022, Governor Jim Justice announced that he had directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate Southern Regional Jail (SRJ). In the days leading up to the governor’s announcement, media reports described horrifying conditions at the Raleigh County jail: filthy and broken accommodations, people sleeping on wet floors, violence against incarcerated people…
Fact Sheets
Over the last year and a half, the public has learned what people behind bars have known for years: that the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitations (DCR) consistently fails to keep people in its custody safe. Since the beginning of 2020, 217 people have died in a West Virginia jail or prison. This…
West Virginia places four times as many children per capita into the foster care system as the United States as a whole. Most foster care entries in West Virginia are related to substance use or neglect—not abuse. Poverty and lack of access to substance use treatment are major drivers of foster care entry.[i] To solve…
West Virginia lawmakers passed the Hope Scholarship, at the time one of the broadest school voucher programs in the nation, in 2021. Voucher programs like the Hope Scholarship, referred to as Education Savings Accounts, divert taxpayer funding from the public education system to unaccountable, sometimes unaccredited, private schools and education service providers. With no public…
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Introduction SNAP Stretch, a program that matches SNAP benefits spent at participating markets to increase fruit and vegetable affordability and access, increases consumption of healthy foods among low-income households, boosts sales at local farmers markets, and benefits our broader economy. A $1 million state investment in SNAP Stretch could have a $2.84 million economic benefit…
Overview Read the full fact sheet. The West Virginia State Senate recently released an outline of a plan to eliminate business personal property taxes and use state revenues to reimburse counties, schools, and municipalities for the hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue that would be lost if Amendment Two or the “Property…
The enhanced child tax credit can benefit nearly every kid in West Virginia The enhanced child tax credit (CTC) is part of the federal government’s relief package (American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA) to help families during the pandemic. In 2021, this plan increases the amount of money that families with children can get refunded…
Overview Read the full fact sheet here. Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), states, cities, counties, U.S. territories, and tribal nations will receive a total of $350 billion in Fiscal Recovery Funds to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and help bring back jobs. In West Virginia, the state government will receive $1.355 billion and…
This piece was co-authored by WVCBP executive director, Kelly Allen, and WVCBP senior policy analyst, Sean O'Leary. State-funded vouchers use existing state funds intended for public schools and instead redirect them for use in non-public, private education programs. Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are a form of these state-funded vouchers. The primary difference between ESAs and…