A recently launched portal designed to give parents a central location to arrange for military child care has been out of operation since June 2.

MilitaryChildCare.com is for all military families at the 43 bases where it has been launched so far, but is hosted at the Navy Data Center in Norfolk, Virginia. The Navy is the executive agent for the program for all the services. Officials were working to fix the problem, which has affected "many government systems, to include MilitaryChildCare.com," said Defense Department spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen.

The backup system for MilitaryChildCare.com is also down.

"While the data center is implementing corrective action, families are being redirected to the help desk for support (855-696-2934) or they may contact the installation Child Development Program directly," Christensen said.

"Just like other commercial reservation sites, there are times when the system is down," Christensen said.

"Unfortunately, a lot of people are going to be looking to this site for child care options at their next duty station right now" because of permanent change-of-station moves, said Eileen Huck, deputy director of government relations for the National Military Family Association.

DoD launched the site earlier this year to provide a central portal for parents to get information about and arrange for military child care at their next duty station, their current one or a potential future duty station. Parents can get on waiting lists and monitor the status of their request for child care while they wait for notification of an available space.

Since the launch earlier this year at 13 installations beyond the five pilot locations, officials have added 25 more installations, for a total of 43. Another 12 installations are in the process of making the transition to the new system; and 29 more will transition to the system in the next few months. All installations are expected to be on board by September 2016.

Officials have been actively seeking feedback and are using lessons learned from parents, staff and leadership to continually improve the system, Christensen said. One of the lessons learned is that assessing the needs of child care programs before the transition is helpful. As a result, there is an expanded model for metro area and large installations, and an optional seminar series on managing waiting lists.

They've also tailored communication and outreach materials to family child care programs, where child care is provided in military-certified homes.

To stay on schedule with the global launch, officials regularly assess key milestones to monitor progress, and alert child care program officials of any potential schedule risk, Christensen said.

The site enables parents to visit one location for their child care needs, rather than contacting the child care program offices of each installation. Parents can view information on every child development center and family child care home and see the current anticipated placement time estimates. Parents can also view maps to see how far a child care provider is from their work or home.

Installations where MilitaryChildCare.com has launched:

Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada

Alimanu Military Reservation, Hawaii

Fort Shafter, Hawaii

Helemano Military Reservation, Hawaii

Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii

Wheeler Air Field, Hawaii

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California

Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California

Naval Air Station, Meridian, Mississippi

Naval Air Station Key West, Florida

Naval Base Coronado, California

Naval Base Point Loma, California

Naval Base San Diego

Naval Support Activity Bahrain

Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Hawaii

Singapore

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas

Naval Air Facility El Centro, California

Naval Station Everett, Washington

Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada

Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas

Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas

Naval Base Kitsap, Washington

Naval Air Station Lemoore, California

Presidio of Monterey, California

New Orleans NAS Joint Reserve Base

Naval Base Ventura County, California

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington

Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, Virginia

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia

Naval Support Activity Mid-South, Tennessee

Naval Support Activity Panama City, Florida

Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California

Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California

Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, California

Installations in transition – preparing to launch:

Joint Base Langley-Eustis (Eustis), Virginia

Joint Base Langley-Eustis (Langley), Virginia

Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.

Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia

Mayport Naval Station, Florida

Naval Station Norfolk (NSN, Virginia)

Naval Support Activity - Hampton Roads, Virginia

Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia

Oceana/Dam Neck, Virginia

Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, Virginia

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California

Installations scheduled to launch in next three months:

Beale Air Force Base, California

Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico

F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming

Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington

Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina

Los Angeles Air Force Base

Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

MacDill Air Force Base, Florida

Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana

Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama

Moody Air Force Base, Georgia

Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho

Patrick Air Force Base, Florida

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina

Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina

Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Naval Weapons Station Earle, New Jersey

Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois

Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut

Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island

Naval Support Activity, Philadelphia

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, New Hampshire

Naval Support Activity, Saratoga Springs, New York

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina

Marine Corps Community Services Lejeune-New River, North Carolina

Marine Corps Community Services South Carolina

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia

Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.

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