Families who depend on assistance from the state to help purchase back to school clothes for children have more time to apply. According to a press release by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, COVID-19 has delayed the application period for the School Clothing Allowance program. The SCA provides funds for eligible West Virginia children to purchase clothing and shoes for school.
The program will also be moving to an electronic format to allow recipients to make online purchases to reduce health risks. Previously, purchases were limited to in-store transactions.
Revised dates for the school clothes application period as well as new guidance related to online shopping will be announced in coming weeks.
In 2019, more than 42,000 West Virginia families received a school clothing allowance.
Election season’s over, but we sure haven’t put politics behind us. Not with the holidays approaching.
Some families avoid talking politics over the turkey, but other family gatherings descend into political fights.
Trey Kay takes us on a visit to a family with deep political divisions — but they also have a trick for keeping it friendly. It turns out some jars of preserves can help preserve the piece.
The application deadline for school clothing vouchers in West Virginia has been extended to Aug. 10.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Division of Family Assistance made the announcement in a news release Tuesday.
The extension is due to program expansion that now includes families and children enrolled in public pre-K programs or West Virginia Head Start and who have turned 4 years old by Jul. 1.
The age requirement for enrollment in public West Virginia pre-K changed to July 1, 2018, as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 186 during the regular 2017 state Legislature session.
Each eligible child will receive a $200 voucher that can be used for school clothing or goods for families who sew their children’s clothes.
To learn more about eligibility guidelines or to apply, contact your local DHHR office, apply online at wvinroads.org or call 1-877-716-1212. Verification of income for the month of July must be submitted with the application.
The application acceptance period extension to August 10, 2018, applies for all West Virginia families.
There’s a place in historic downtown Martinsburg that’s known to the community as… the BE-Hive. It’s spelled B-E, meaning “to be,” and “hive” meaning “home.” It’s an activity center for children, but it’s not a drop-off point. The parents have to be involved too.
That’s Mike Schaeffer on his guitar. Mike is the vice president of BE-Hive, and before most BE-Hive events, he’s playing on his guitar and singing songs with the children. He gives an excited little girl the chance to strum on his guitar as he presses the chords. Her face lights up as she hears the change in pitches that she is helping to make. Activities at BE-Hive are aimed at children up to the age of 13, but Mike Schaeffer says the BE-Hive isn’t just for children.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Mike and Robin Schaeffer, owners of BE-Hive
“One of the important things was, since we wanted it not just to be a drop-off for kids,” Mike said, “we wanted it to be for parents and their kids, we wanted also the parents to be comfy, so we have comfy like living room seating with couches, we have little café tables that the parents can sit and talk with each other or they can sit and play games with their children.”
“The first time we came, I thought this is wonderful,” said Allison Lemaster, a BE-Hive regular, “I can sit and I talk with other mums and I can watch my kids, I don’t have to send my kids off to another room, I can watch my kids play, and I can have a bit of relaxing time talking with parents instead of five-year-olds and three-year-olds, and it was just like the kind of play group that I had been looking for, but it’s so much more than just a play group.”
Since BE-Hive opened in October 2012, more than 11,000 people have come through its doors. The organization is open to anyone, but President and co-founder, Robin Schaeffer says, BE-Hive serves many teen mothers and single parents. She hopes it provides a stable home away from home.
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“It’s designed to be cozy and comfy and to invite you in just like you’re coming home,” Robin explained, “so we have a kitchen table that we’re sitting at right now, with a little kitchen cabinet. We have a living room with lots of games to play, we have a library with cozy, big comfy chairs.”
BE-Hive is funded through grants from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Panhandle and from United Way; however, most of its funding comes from community donations. Each month, the organization hosts free events and programs on topics like the arts, math, languages, health, and there’s also story time.
The Schaeffers developed the idea for BE-Hive while volunteering with what is now the Emmanuel House, in the basement of a church in Martinsburg. Robin and her husband, Mike, volunteered to hold activities for the children, while their parents attended a separate program.
“So that kind of led to our idea of having a place called BE-Hive,” Robin remembers, “where parents and children would be together and learn some of the things that we were wanting to teach the children.”
Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The Schaeffers say BE-Hive has affected families in more ways than they ever expected. They’ve seen children grow as people, make friends, and they’ve also seen some of the parents change. Robin remembers when one of her regular mothers came in with her daughter, and her daughter’s estranged father. She told Robin they hadn’t seen him in over a year.
“I watched him because I was curious,” Robin said, “and he you know, made no motion to really do anything but just sat in the chair at the table most of the time. Then he came back again, and then he came back again, and we have seen him now, you know hugging and loving his daughter, and you can just feel it, that he’s involved.”
BE-Hive is open four days a week for families of all different backgrounds and incomes. Robin and Mike Schaeffer say it has far surpassed their original mission, and they hope their organization will continue to thrive, as long as the funding allows.
The State Senate has concurred with the amendment and from the House and has passed the bill. The bill now goes to Governor Tomblin and awaits his signature.
The Senate passed the bill 30-1. Sen. Herb Snyder was the lone vote against.
Original Post onWednesday: May 21, 2014 at 12:24 p.m.:
An amendment unanimously approved by the West Virginia House of Delegates would fully restore more than $1 million in cuts to family and child service programs.
Those cuts came in March as part of a line item veto by Gov. Tomblin. Later, the governor restored about $260,000 of those cuts by taking money from a trust fund to provide future children’s programs.
Members of the House amended a special session bill dealing with appropriations from excess lottery for Fiscal Year 2015, beginning July 1. The amendment cuts $1.06 million from the racetrack purse fund to restore the governor’s cuts to child advocacy centers, family resource centers and domestic violence prevention and assistance programs.
Advocates held a rally at the Capitol Tuesday urging lawmakers to find a way to restore the more than $800,000 in funding to make service programs whole, but instead of finding just that amount, Delegates voted to restore the full $1.06 million, putting money back into the trust fund the governor had used to previously restore funding.
“This is especially good news as it would mean the state would not need to borrow against other children’s programs,” Stephen Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition, said in an email after the vote.
The money comes from excess lottery revenues that would have been appropriated to the racetrack purse fund. The money in that fund is used to pay winners who bet on races at horse tracks.
“Unfortunately, we’re taking this money from a group that doesn’t deserve to be cut either,” Delegate J.B. McCuskey said on the floor, “but this will show West Virginians where our priorities are.”
Lawmakers say moving those revenues to fund services should not affect the racing industry itself, as in the number of races they are able to run, but may slightly effect the amount tracks are able to pay out.
