The Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS Program

The Defense Department recognizes that quality, affordable child care is critical for military families with children. That’s why the department’s fee assistance program Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood, also known as MCCYN, has recently expanded its child care program eligibility requirements for civilian providers in the local community.

MCCYN requires both center and home-based community child care providers receiving fee assistance to be licensed or regulated by the state, to be inspected by an oversight agency once a year and to meet the requirements of a DOD-approved national or state early learning accreditation agency.

When on-installation child care is unavailable or when families are geographically dispersed from a military installation, MCCYN helps eligible families access child care that meets their needs and reduces the out-of-pocket expenses for community child care. For more information about MCCYN, visit Child Care Aware^® of America.

MCCYN-PLUS program expansion

The DOD expanded the MCCYN program, creating MCCYN-PLUS, to bridge the gap in locations where accredited care is unavailable. This initiative utilizes the states’ Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, or QRIS, as an indicator of provider quality in lieu of national accreditation, broadening the pool of providers eligible to receive fee assistance on behalf of military families.

MCCYN-PLUS is available in Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami-Dade County, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Additional states continue to join the initiative.

The MCCYN-PLUS initiative increases access to quality early care and education programs for military families and gives eligible providers the opportunity to expand their businesses to include military families.

The MCCYN-PLUS program expansion is just one small way that the department is taking care of its people — the most valuable part of our national defense.