Off-Base Child Care Solutions for Military Families

Finding reliable and affordable childcare is a crucial concern for military families, especially when moving to a new location or when on-base facilities like Child Development Centers (CDC) or Family Child Care (FCC) programs are at full capacity. If you're facing such a dilemma, don't worry—you have options and financial assistance available through Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA). This government subsidy program offers daycare tuition assistance for military and DOD families, making it easier to find high-quality child care near you.  It is meant to provide financial assistance to parents who must utilize off-base daycare, to make the out-of-pocket cost comparable to an on-base facility.

How Does It Work?

Website: Child Care Aware of America

You can self-navigate through the website to find the page that applies specifically to which branch of the military your family belongs to. Here’s a simplified step-by-step guide for an Active Duty Air Force family with one toddler and both parents working full-time (civilian spouse):

Discovering the Program:

• Once the decision has been made for both parents to continue working full-time with a young child (this decision isn’t made lightly, and may vary family to family), search for daycare centers either close to your work or home.  Think about daily work schedules, and pick an area to search for daycare facilities that makes the most sense for convenient pickups and drop-offs.  Interviewing and deciding which daycare center you think is a good fit for your child is a different discussion entirely, but is very important in order to ensure your child gets a good educational foundation.  Assuming you are able to obtain a spot at daycare for your child, query the leadership team of the facility as to whether they are an established Provider in the ChildCare Aware database (there is a process for daycare facilities to verify their information and legitimacy for CCA certification).  

CCAoA Application Process:

• Profile Creation: Set up a profile on MilitaryChildCare.com.
  

• Request for Care and Fee Assistance: Within your profile, make a care request. Note that if you live within 15 miles or 20 minutes of an installation CDC or FCC, you must also certify that you have already requested care at those facilities through your profile - CCoA tuition assistance is meant to be awarded to those who either can’t get their child into an on-base daycare (due to capacity or other reasons), or live too far away from one.
  

• Approval and Application Completion: When you receive an offer through MilitaryChildCare.com, you will then fill out the electronic fee assistance application on their website, and send any applicable documents to verify your information:

  • LES pay stubs for the military member
    

  • Monthly pay stubs for the civilian spouse
    

  • Self-certification form - an affidavit proclaiming that the child you are seeking fee assistance for is your Dependent in the DEERS system
    

  • Provider Cost Verification form - the daycare provider will fill this out and you will both sign it and submit it (official statement of the cost of care, including meals and other fees or discounts that may apply)
    

  • The assistance amount is determined by your Total Family Income (TFI). You can find TFI brackets and their corresponding assistance levels on the CCAoA website, FY24 Total Family Income Categories, DoD Parent Fees, High Cost Installations, and Provider Caps.
    

• Receiving Assistance: During the application/approval period, you will be required to pay the daycare tuition in full (could take up to 2-3 months to start).  You can expect to receive back-pay in the form of credit on your daycare account. Moving forward, CCAoA will send the monthly tuition assistance directly to your daycare account, minimizing any sort of accounting requirements on your behalf!  Simply confirm that you are receiving the expected amount each month, and adjust your budget based on the assistance received.

Additional Tips:

• Stay Informed: Regularly check the Child Care Aware of America website for updates and additional resources.
  

• Documentation: Keep all your documentation organized and accessible for a smoother application process.
  

• Plan Ahead: Begin your childcare search and application process as soon as possible, especially in anticipation of PCS moves.
  

This program is a testament to the support available for military families, ensuring that your children have access to quality child care without straining your finances. Explore this opportunity and let it ease one of the many challenges military life can present, and please spread the word!

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