Military Child Development Program: Background and Issues

Summary

The Department of Defense (DOD) operates the largest employer-sponsored childcare program in the United States, serving approximately 200,000 children of uniformed servicemembers and DOD civilians, and employing over 23,000 childcare workers, at an annual cost of over $800 million. DOD’s child development program (CDP) includes a combination of accredited, installation-based, government-run, full-time pre-school and school-aged care in Child Development Centers (CDCs) and subsidized care in Family Care Centers (FCCs) or through private providers under the Fee Assistance program.

Childcare services are part of a broader set of quality of life benefits that make up the total compensation package for military personnel and certain DOD civilians. The Department has argued that these childcare benefits help support their recruiting, retention, and readiness goals and that there is generally a high level of satisfaction among servicemembers who use DOD childcare services. Moreover, military family advocacy groups have largely supported existing childcare benefits and have also called for expanding awareness of, access to, operating hours for, and improving or enhancing other aspects of military childcare services.

While there has been broad support for DOD’s CDP since its inception, the questions of what benefits should be provided to military servicemembers and their families, how these benefits should be structured, and what resources should be directed to these benefits are issues for Congress when considering the annual defense budget authorization and appropriation.