The Clay Family Support Center served more than 185 families over the past year and weathered months of state uncertainty over TANF funding without staff reductions, reduced hours, or paused programs, according to emailed responses from the center to The Clay Communicator. Donna Salisbury, the center’s director, said the center does not know what funding will look like after June 2027.
The center’s main grant is 93% funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, known as TANF. Community Connections Inc. owns that grant and is funding the center until a signed grant is in place, she said.
Coats donated to the Clay Family Support Center by the Knights of Columbus. (Photo provided by the center)
What the center offers
The center’s main grant serves families with children from pregnancy to age 18. Services include Talk Time, parenting classes, arts and crafts, play dates, job development, support for grandparents raising grandchildren and a food pantry.
Donna Rose and Lisa Holcomb, two of the center’s grand families. (Photo provided by the center)
Salisbury said the needs the center sees most often from Clay County families are utility assistance, food, cleaning and hygiene supplies, and baby items. The center also offers classes in cooking, cleaning, basic sewing, job searching and budgeting, plus an online learning portal. Annual events include Christmas in Clay, a Community Baby Shower and Fishing Not Drugs.
How the center is funded
Beyond the TANF-funded main grant, Salisbury said the center has “much smaller grants and programs” that are not TANF-funded. Local giving is modest: generally under $1,000 a year in cash, along with $37,615 in donated new items.
State uncertainty over TANF
Family Support Centers operate in all 55 West Virginia counties and rely largely on TANF dollars administered by the state Department of Human Services. In May, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced a projected TANF shortfall of about $40 million, raising questions about the future of programs the money supports, including the centers.
On June 12, the Department of Human Services said it would extend all current Family Support Center grants for a “fifth quarter” while it managed TANF budget constraints. That extension carried the centers through September. Lawmakers had already approved roughly $177 million for TANF-funded programs in the fiscal year 2027 state budget.
In August, Morrisey said funding levels for TANF-supported programs would not change through June 2027, and that he plans to work with lawmakers on a more sustainable way to fund them.
Salisbury said the center understands funding will continue through June 2027. “After that, we do not know what his decision will be,” she said.
No cuts, but concerns remain
Asked whether the uncertainty led to staff reductions, reduced hours or paused programs, Salisbury said no. “We were one of the more fortunate centers.”
The concern now is the following fiscal year. “That there may not be funding for 2027/2028.”
What a reduction would mean
Salisbury said the center knows of no other organization in the county that delivers the same programming.
“We know of no other organization that delivers the programming that we do. I am sure many families would be hard pressed to make it without us. I worry about children being hungry.”
Donna Salisbury, Director, Clay Family Support Center
Salisbury also said 97% of Clay County residents raising children are eligible for the program.
How residents can help
Volunteers can help unload and shelve food at the center. Salisbury also suggested that residents, businesses, and churches take up donations to support programs, and that residents with a skill to share teach a class for other families. The center is not part of the CarePortal program.
The Clay Communicator will continue to follow funding for Clay Family Support Center. Readers with information to share can reach the newsroom at news@theclaycommunicator.com.
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