Collapse to view only § 1792. Child care employees
- § 1791. Funding for military child care
- § 1792. Child care employees
- § 1793. Parent fees
- § 1794. Child abuse prevention and safety at facilities
- § 1795. Parent partnerships with child development centers
- § 1796. Subsidies for family home day care
- § 1797. Early childhood education program
- § 1798. Child care services and youth program services for dependents: financial assistance for providers
- § 1799. Child care services and youth program services for dependents: participation by children and youth otherwise ineligible
- § 1800. Definitions
§ 1791. Funding for military child care
(a)Policy.—It is the policy of Congress that the amount of appropriated funds available during a fiscal year for operating expenses for military child development centers and programs shall be not less than 115 percent of the amount of child care fee receipts that are estimated to be received by the Department of Defense during that fiscal year.
(b)Responsibility for Allocations of Certain Funds.—The Secretary of Defense shall be responsible for the allocation of Office of the Secretary of Defense level funds for military child development programs for children from birth through 12 years of age, and may not delegate such responsibility to the military departments.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 332; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title V, § 584, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3654; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title V, § 582, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 280.)
§ 1792. Child care employees
(a)Required Training.—
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations implementing a training program for child care employees. Those regulations shall apply uniformly among the military departments. Subject to paragraph (2), satisfactory completion of the training program shall be a condition of employment of any person as a child care employee.
(2) Under those regulations, the Secretary shall require that each child care employee complete the training program not later than six months after the date on which the employee is employed as a child care employee.
(3) The training program established under this subsection shall cover, at a minimum, training in the following:
(A) Early childhood development.
(B) Activities and disciplinary techniques appropriate to children of different ages.
(C) Child abuse prevention and detection.
(D) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency medical procedures.
(b)Training and Curriculum Specialists.—
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall require that at least one employee at each military child development center be a specialist in training and curriculum development. The Secretary shall ensure that such employees have appropriate credentials and experience.
(2) The duties of such employees shall include the following:
(A) Special teaching activities at the center.
(B) Daily oversight and instruction of other child care employees at the center.
(C) Daily assistance in the preparation of lesson plans.
(D) Assistance in the center’s child abuse prevention and detection program.
(E) Advising the director of the center on the performance of other child care employees.
(3) Each employee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an employee in a competitive service position.
(c)Competitive Rates of Pay.—For the purpose of providing military child development centers with a qualified and stable civilian workforce, employees at a military installation who are directly involved in providing child care and are paid from nonappropriated funds—
(1) in the case of entry-level employees, shall be paid at rates of pay competitive with the rates of pay paid to other entry-level employees at that installation who are drawn from the same labor pool; and
(2) in the case of other employees, shall be paid at rates of pay substantially equivalent to the rates of pay paid to other employees at that installation with similar training, seniority, and experience.
(d)Competitive Service Position Defined.—In this section, the term “competitive service position” means a position in the competitive service, as defined in section 2102(a)(1) of title 5.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 332; amended Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title X, § 1073(a)(34), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1902; Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title XI, § 1106, Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2142.)
§ 1793. Parent fees
(a)In General.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations establishing fees to be charged parents for the attendance of children at military child development centers. Those regulations shall be uniform for the military departments and shall require that, in the case of children who attend the centers on a regular basis, the fees shall be based on family income.
(b)Local Waiver Authority.—The Secretary of Defense may provide authority to installation commanders, on a case-by-case basis, to establish fees for attendance of children at child development centers at rates lower than those prescribed under subsection (a) if the rates prescribed under subsection (a) are not competitive with rates at local non-military child development centers.
(c)Family Discount.—In the case of a family with two or more children attending a child development center, the regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) may require that installations commanders charge a fee for attendance at the center of any child of the family after the first child of the family in amount equal to 85 percent of the amount of the fee otherwise chargeable for the attendance of such child at the center.
(d)Child Care Employee Discount.—The Secretary of Defense may, to support recruitment and retention initiatives, charge a child care employee, whose child attends a military child development center, a reduced fee for such attendance.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 333; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title V, § 585(a), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3654; Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title VI, § 642, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2634.)
§ 1794. Child abuse prevention and safety at facilities
(a)Child Abuse Task Force.—The Secretary of Defense shall maintain a special task force to respond to allegations of widespread child abuse at a military installation. The task force shall be composed of personnel from appropriate disciplines, including, where appropriate, medicine, psychology, and childhood development. In the case of such allegations, the task force shall provide assistance to the commander of the installation, and to parents at the installation, in helping them to deal with such allegations.
(b)National Hotline.—
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall maintain a national telephone number for persons to use to report suspected child abuse or safety violations at a military child development center or family home day care site. The Secretary shall ensure that such reports may be made anonymously if so desired by the person making the report. The Secretary shall establish procedures for following up on complaints and information received over that number.
(2) The Secretary shall publicize the existence of the number.
(c)Assistance From Local Authorities.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations requiring that, in a case of allegations of child abuse at a military child development center or family home day care site, the commander of the military installation or the head of the task force established under subsection (a) shall seek the assistance of local child protective authorities if such assistance is available.
(d)Safety Regulations.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations on safety and operating procedures at military child development centers. Those regulations shall apply uniformly among the military departments.
(e)Inspections.—The Secretary of Defense shall require that each military child development center be inspected not less often than four times a year. Each such inspection shall be unannounced. At least one inspection a year shall be carried out by a representative of the installation served by the center, and one inspection a year shall be carried out by a representative of the major command under which that installation operates.
(f)Remedies for Violations.—
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any violation of a safety, health, or child welfare law or regulation (discovered at an inspection or otherwise) at a military child development center shall be remedied immediately.
(2) In the case of a violation that is not life threatening, the commander of the major command under which the installation concerned operates may waive the requirement that the violation be remedied immediately for a period of up to 90 days beginning on the date of the discovery of the violation. If the violation is not remedied as of the end of that 90-day period, the military child development center shall be closed until the violation is remedied. The Secretary of the military department concerned may waive the preceding sentence and authorize the center to remain open in a case in which the violation cannot reasonably be remedied within that 90-day period or in which major facility reconstruction is required.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 333.)
§ 1795. Parent partnerships with child development centers
(a)Parent Boards.—The Secretary of Defense shall require that there be established at each military child development center a board of parents, to be composed of parents of children attending the center. The board shall meet periodically with staff of the center and the commander of the installation served by the center for the purpose of discussing problems and concerns. The board, together with the staff of the center, shall be responsible for coordinating the parent participation program described in subsection (b).
(b)Parent Participation Programs.—The Secretary of Defense shall require the establishment of a parent participation program at each military child development center. As part of such program, the Secretary of Defense may establish fees for attendance of children at such a center, in the case of parents who participate in the parent participation program at that center, at rates lower than the rates that otherwise apply.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 334.)
§ 1796. Subsidies for family home day care
The Secretary of Defense may use appropriated funds available for military child care purposes to provide assistance to family home day care providers so that family home day care services can be provided to members of the armed forces at a cost comparable to the cost of services provided by military child development centers. The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the provision of such assistance.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 334.)
§ 1797. Early childhood education program
The Secretary of Defense shall require that all military child development centers meet standards of operation necessary for accreditation by an appropriate national early childhood programs accrediting body.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 335.)
§ 1798. Child care services and youth program services for dependents: financial assistance for providers
(a)Authority.—The Secretary of Defense may provide financial assistance to an eligible civilian provider of child care services or youth program services that furnishes such services for members of the armed forces, survivors of members of the armed forces who die in combat-related incidents in the line of duty, and employees of the United States if the Secretary determines that providing such financial assistance—
(1) is in the best interest of the Department of Defense;
(2) enables supplementation or expansion of furnishing of child care services or youth program services for military installations, while not supplanting or replacing such services; and
(3) ensures that the eligible provider is able to comply, and does comply, with the regulations, policies, and standards of the Department of Defense that are applicable to the furnishing of such services.
(b)Eligible Providers.—A provider of child care services or youth program services is eligible for financial assistance under this section if the provider—
(1) is licensed to provide those services under applicable State and local law;
(2) has previously provided such services for members of the armed forces or employees of the United States; and
(3) either—
(A) is a family home day care provider; or
(B) is a provider of family child care services that—
(i) otherwise provides federally funded or sponsored child development services;
(ii) provides the services in a child development center owned and operated by a private, not-for-profit organization;
(iii) provides before-school or after-school child care program in a public school facility;
(iv) conducts an otherwise federally funded or federally sponsored school age child care or youth services program;
(v) conducts a school age child care or youth services program that is owned and operated by a not-for-profit organization; or
(vi) is a provider of another category of child care services or youth services determined by the Secretary of Defense as appropriate for meeting the needs of members of the armed forces or employees of the Department of Defense.
(c)Funding.—To provide financial assistance under this subsection, the Secretary of Defense may use any funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for operation and maintenance.
(Added Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 584(a)(1)(B), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 634; amended Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title X, § 1041(a)(6), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2645; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title VI, § 624, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1428.)
§ 1799. Child care services and youth program services for dependents: participation by children and youth otherwise ineligible
(a)Authority.—The Secretary of Defense may authorize participation in child care or youth programs of the Department of Defense, to the extent of the availability of space and services, by children and youth under the age of 19 who are not dependents of members of the armed forces or of employees of the Department of Defense and are not otherwise eligible for participation in those programs.
(b)Limitation.—Authorization of participation in a program under subsection (a) shall be limited to situations in which that participation promotes the attainment of the objectives set forth in subsection (c), as determined by the Secretary.
(c)Objectives.—The objectives for authorizing participation in a program under subsection (a) are as follows:
(1) To support the integration of children and youth of military families into civilian communities.
(2) To make more efficient use of Department of Defense facilities and resources.
(3) To establish or support a partnership or consortium arrangement with schools and other youth services organizations serving children of members of the armed forces.
(Added Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 584(a)(1)(B), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 634; amended Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title X, § 1041(a)(7), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2645.)
§ 1800. Definitions
In this subchapter:
(1) The term “military child development center” means a facility on a military installation (or on property under the jurisdiction of the commander of a military installation) at which child care services are provided for members of the armed forces or any other facility at which such child care services are provided that is operated by the Secretary of a military department.
(2) The term “family home day care” means home-based child care services that are provided for members of the armed forces by an individual who (A) is certified by the Secretary of the military department concerned as qualified to provide those services, and (B) provides those services on a regular basis for compensation.
(3) The term “child care employee” means a civilian employee of the Department of Defense who is employed to work in a military child development center (regardless of whether the employee is paid from appropriated funds or nonappropriated funds).
(4) The term “child care fee receipts” means those nonappropriated funds that are derived from fees paid by members of the armed forces for child care services provided at military child development centers.
(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 335, § 1798; renumbered § 1800, Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 584(a)(1)(A), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 634.)