Dependable and affordable child care is a big issue for military families, and it's a priority for the Defense Department, which has a number of programs underway to expand the available options.
While the department runs the largest employer-sponsored child care program in the United States, military families and DOD civilians face challenges finding quality care — especially for children under 5. It's a problem shared with families nationwide, said Chad E. Sheldon, DOD associate director for child and youth programs policy.
"The child care issue is really a national issue," he said. "We just simply don't have enough child care capacity for the needs and demands of families in our communities and with our military members as well. So, we've started a number of initiatives to really get after that."
The department operates child development centers on military installations; however, Sheldon said those facilities cannot meet the needs of military families alone.
"We simply can't build fast enough," he said. "We're not going to be able to build enough child care facilities on our installations to meet the need."
Also, he said, not everyone can access care on the installation, including geographically dispersed service members.
"We have folks for whom it's just not feasible," he said. "In those cases, we rely on community-based child care programs, and we offer fee assistance through our program, Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood."
To increase access to quality care, DOD continues to expand the MCCYN program and recently created MCCYN-PLUS to bridge the gap in locations where accredited care is unavailable. This initiative utilizes a state's Quality Rating and Improvement System as an indicator of quality, broadening the pool of child care providers.
The Defense Department's Child Care Expansion Initiative is the most recent effort to alleviate the issue. Through it, DOD partners with nonprofit agencies to open new child care facilities exclusively for military and DOD civilian families in high-demand areas of the country.
The first example of this effort is a new child care facility in the Norfolk, Virginia, area operated by the Armed Services YMCA. Plans include an additional facility in the Virginia Beach area, as well as a facility in Northern Virginia that would support DOD personnel working in the National Capital Region.
The Norfolk area facility opened this month, the facility in Northern Virginia will open before the end of 2025, and the Virginia Beach area facility will open in 2026.
Sheldon said the new facilities are an exciting addition as each will have the capacity to accommodate about 200 children.
"So, it's going to make a pretty big difference. And that's a lot of children that will be able to get off the waitlist and head into some quality child care," he added.
For military families eligible to use the newly opened Norfolk facility, the cost of child care will be based on total family income at the same rates charged by DOD-operated child development centers.
Another program the department spearheaded involves buying slots in existing commercial child care facilities and offering them to military families.
"One of the things that we've implemented recently is our child care buydown spaces," Sheldon said. "That's really targeting some very specific geographic areas where we've got a high unmet child care need, and our capacity isn't going to meet that need."
That program is active in Jacksonville, Florida, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, with additional slots coming to San Diego, Norfolk and the National Capital Region in the coming months.
"In those places, we reached out to community-based programs, and essentially, we secure some of those child care spaces specifically for our military service members," Sheldon said. "We know that they're going to need them, we know that they're going to use them, and so we just get into an agreement with those child care programs."
The department also runs the Child Care in Your Home fee assistance program. Currently in its third year of a five-year pilot, the program allows military families to be reimbursed for between 30 and 60 hours of at-home child care provided by a babysitter or a nanny.
The program is available in 13 locations with the highest demand and longest waitlists for child care, including the National Capital Region; Hawaii; San Diego; Norfolk; San Antonio; Colorado Springs; Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; Jacksonville, Mayport and Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Las Vegas and Alaska.
Through this program, Sheldon said families can hire in-home care, and the department will offset the cost at the same rates as the fee assistance program.
He added that it is designed for families who are working nontraditional hours, such as shift workers, as well as families with a large number of children or who have children with special needs.
Last year, the department kicked off a three-year pilot program that reimburses service members up to $1,500 for travel-related expenses incurred for a temporary child care provider following a permanent change of station move overseas and up to $500 for moves within the United States.
Under this program, when an active-duty service member moves to a new duty station and finds that child care will not be available within 30 days of reporting, they can hire their own provider, typically a relative or family friend, and then file for reimbursement of transportation-related expenses.
"Taking care of military families is a critical part of preserving the finest military in the world," said Tim Dill, performing the duties of the deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "A key part of that task is providing those families with access to quality and affordable child care, which is why the department continues to invest in child development program facilities and infrastructure. When our warfighters know all is well at home, they are free to focus on military readiness and more likely to continue to serve our country."