The Army is moving its program that subsidizes child care fees back to a contractor after the General Services Administration failed to manage it, causing financial hardship for thousands of Army families. The transition is expected to be complete by January.

And, pressed by lawmakers, the General Services Administration official now in charge of the failed program agreed that his office will pay all the backlogged invoices to child care providers within 30 days, and handle required verifications later. At the end of July, there were 9,100 backlogged invoices.

The subsidy programs help eligible military families reduce the cost of child care in the community when the service is not available on an installation. It compensates for some or all of the gap between the on-post cost of child care, and the cost for care outside the gates.

Families must provide documentation certifying their eligibility, and child care providers must prove they are qualified to provide the care. Providers submit invoices to GSA each month for each child enrolled. For years, Child Care Aware (formerly NACCRRA) managed the program for the Army, and continues to do so for the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

The Army's decision to move administration of the child care fee subsidy program last October to the GSA was a cost-saving measure, said retired Army Col. Stephanie L. Hoehne, director of family and morale, welfare and recreation for the Army Installation Management Command, in testimony Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The hearing was held two days after the GSA inspector general issued a report on the program, which has experienced increasing backlogs since last year. The primary cause of the backlogs was GSA's failure to plan adequately for the expansion, investigators found.

But the effect on Army families has been severe, they reported, ranging from bankruptcy to collection actions. Families have reported considering having a spouse quit a job or quit school so that one parent could stay home with their children.

After the hearing, two Army family members who had testified said they were encouraged by the response of the Army and GSA, and appreciated the lawmakers calling attention to the problem.

Army wife Kaela Hensley said she feels confident "that it will be taken care of the way it should be." Because of the delays they experienced, she and her husband, an Army sergeant, exhausted their savings and had to borrow money from relatives. Hensley said their situation has straightened out now; they were previously paying $301 a week for care for their 2-year-old and now pay $139.

Army Capt. Karmon Dyches said she is glad to see the contract moving back to the nonprofit organization Child Care Aware. "They were wonderful," she said. "Unfortunately, this is too late for a lot of families. Moving forward, I hope no more families have to experience this."

She and her husband, also a soldier, have experienced a number of problems with delays in payments and getting their child care provider recertified since GSA started administering the program, she testified. Out of the $1,200 a month their child care costs, the fee program pays $610 a month, she said.

In an interview, Eileen Huck, government relations deputy director for the National Military Family Association, offered a word of caution to service officials thinking of making changes to the fee subsidy program.

"It's important for the services to recognize how vital this service is for the families who use it," she said. "Anyone thinking about changing this service needs to be cautious, because it's critical that military families to be able to afford high-quality child care."

Hoehne, who was not in her current position when the decision was made in 2013 to transfer the program, testified that according to documentation she reviewed, fiscal pressures were forcing the Army to look everywhere to save money. Officials expected to save $4 million to $5 million, compared to the previous contract to Child Care Aware of $8 million.

But Hoehne acknowledged that hasn't worked out. The program has already cost the Army $8.4 million  this year, she said. Army officials didn't do due diligence in making sure GSA was capable of handling the new program, she said.

The problems not only affected Army families seeking child care, but also child care providers — many of who are military family members — who were put into a financial bind when they were not paid.

Hoehne and the current GSA official in charge of the program, Gerard Badorrek, chief financial officer of GSA, apologized for the hardships caused to families, and outlined plans to remedy the situation. Badorrek said he learned of the problem Jan. 7 through an email complaint from an Army family, and traveled to the administrative office of the program two weeks later.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, questioned why GSA employees had deleted emails and voice messages from frustrated families, and said the committee will look into possible violations of the Federal Records Act.

can cut for print: He also noted that Child Care Aware operated with 39 people on the contract; and GSA was unable to successfully run the program with 184 employees, and plans to hire another 37 contractors.  He asked Badorrek to provide a list of the salaries of the employees working on the program, and details of whether they received bonuses.

Chaffetz said the committee also is concerned about families whose credit records were affected because of the problems. Some families faced issues ranging from bankruptcy to collection agencies, the GSA inspector general found. Chaffetz challenged GSA and the Army to perhaps come up with a letter certifying that problems with lack of payment were not the fault of the Army families.

"Our Army families ... they sacrifice, they've got to be focused on their job. There's a reason why child care services are offered. Many of them are offered on base. But in those situations where they're not, we need to be able to take care of their children," Chaffetz said.

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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