DoD works to expand child care options for service members - Military Family Resources - Military Times

DoD works to expand child care options for service members

Defense officials are digging deeper into civilian communities to find more high-quality child care for military families.

Child development liaisons will be hired in 13 states in a pilot program that aims to improve access to child care for military families who are not stationed near an installation, as well as those at installations where child development centers are full.

The states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Vermont and Washington.

Barbara Thompson, director of the Defense Department’s office of family policy, children and youth, said the liaisons will identify potential child care providers who are interested in caring for military children.

The Defense Department “will collaborate with the people who run child care in the state,” while offering technical assistance and material support to the states to help improve the quality of their child care systems, she said.

The 13 states were chosen for various reasons. Some have high populations of military children and installations with a high deployment tempo; others have no installations but do have geographically dispersed National Guard and reserve members, as well as special-duty personnel such as recruiters. Some of the states have been identified as needing to improve the quality of their child care.

The Defense Department child care program has been recognized as a national model.

“We think we have a lot to share with the nation,” Thompson said. “We want to make sure all children have access to high-quality care.”

The pilot program will share some of the military’s “lessons learned” to help civilian communities “raise the bar of quality,” she said.

Sometimes it’s difficult for military officials to refer families to child care off the installations when those providers are just barely meeting state licensing requirements, Thompson said, adding that not all states have high standards for child care.

Pilot program liaisons will work with the states’ early childhood councils, licensing agencies and block grant programs. Since federal block grants go directly to the states, the pilot program will look to leverage block grants to also support military families, Thompson said.

Kelly Hruska, deputy director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, said this could be a winning solution both for military and civilian families.

“As you expand capacity, you expand options for military families,” she said. “And for the community, it raises the level of the quality of child care.”

The program is a partnership between the Pentagon and the departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Agriculture, under the White House’s Military Family Interagency Policy initiative.