Child Care Options

Service members and their families, including families with special needs, have several options for affordable, quality child care. From DOD-certified, on-installation child development centers to licensed community child care programs and in-home care, explore options that best meet your family’s needs.

• On-installation child development centers are facility-based programs that care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years of age. The CDC programs offer full-day, part-day, hourly child care (availability permitting) and part-day preschool (availability permitting).
• Request on-installation child care through MilitaryChildCare.com.

• Family Child Care homes operate with certified child care professionals known as FCC providers. These FCC providers offer care in their homes for infants and children up to age 12 and can be located on or off an installation.

• School-age care programs are facility-based programs that care for children ages 6 to 12 years old. The SAC programs provide before- and after-school care during the school year and full-day care during scheduled school breaks and vacations. SAC programs also offer hourly child care (availability permitting).

• Options for child care in your home may be available to military families residing in the U.S. who may need flexible, hourly care or full-time, in-home care.

Child Care Resources

Find licensed, affordable and quality care

The DOD offers a variety of resources to help families find the child care they need, including families with special needs. Use these resources to help find the right care for your child:

• MilitaryChildCare.com is the DOD’s online request-for-care management system that helps families in any service branch find and request military-operated child care worldwide.

• Expanded hourly child care options are available to meet the growing and diverse child care needs of military families residing in the U.S. Search a national database to find hourly, flexible and on-demand child care. The nationally recognized subscription service lets you:
• Search based on your own needs and criteria
• Find potential care providers
• Check references
• Review background checks

This service is available to anyone who is eligible for Military OneSource services.

Fee Assistance

Help manage the expense of off-installation and in-home care with fee assistance

Military OneSource can help you find affordable, quality child care that meets your family's needs.

• Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood is a DOD fee assistance program available to eligible families that include active-duty personnel, reserve component members and DOD civilian employees. This program offsets the cost of child care in community child care programs on behalf of families who are unable to access installation child care.
• Child Care Aware® of America is the third party administrator that serves and supports eligible military families through the military Child Care Fee Assistance program. They manage the administration of the MCCYN program. For more information, visit the Child Care Aware® of America website or call 800-424-2246.
• Navy families only: The Navy MCCYN Child Care Fee Assistance Program administers the MCCYN program for Navy families. Navy families can learn more about Navy fee assistance.

• MCCYN has expanded to MCCYN-PLUS, relying on state Quality Rating and Improvement Systems as an indicator of provider quality in place of national accreditation. This initiative broadens the pool of providers eligible to receive fee assistance on behalf of military families.
• The expansion is currently available in Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Miami-Dade County, Florida. As interest continues to grow, the expansion will include additional states. Learn more about fee assistance and family eligibility through the Child Care Aware® of America website.

• Child Care in Your Home fee assistance pilot program provides fee assistance to service members who use in-home child care providers and covers full-time care from 30 hours to 60 hours of child care weekly. Fee assistance offsets the cost of child care. To support military families with nontraditional work schedules, care is not limited to Monday through Friday or time of day. The CCYH program is offered in select locations, and spaces are limited in each location/region.

Parent Support

• Military Parent Resource Center has resources that are used and approved by military parents for MilKids of all ages.

• New MilParent Specialty Consultations provide free, confidential help so you can get the resources you need to tackle parenting challenges.

• Military and Family Support Centers provide access to military family readiness support services, including relocation assistance, New Parent Support Program, personal and family life education, Exceptional Family Member Program support and more. Visit MilitaryINSTALLATIONS to locate your local Military and Family Support Center.