Shaheen, Ernst Champion Bipartisan Legislation to Make Child Care More Accessible for Military Families

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee , introduced bipartisan legislation to help service members more easily access quality, affordable and consistent child care. A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Representatives Jen Kiggans (D-VA-02) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51). “Too many families across America are put in difficult situations when they can’t afford or easily access child care. This challenge is particularly acute for military families who deal with frequent moves and school enrollments for their children,” said Senator Shaheen. “Families across America are relying on Congress to do more to help solve this crisis by ensuring child care providers can stay open and provide affordable options. I’m proud to lead bipartisan legislation that would respond to our country’s shortage of child care providers by using Department of Defense resources to boost recruitment and retention, expand our provider pool, reduce inefficiencies in our military child care system and better understand how we can best serve our men and women in uniform.” “As our servicemembers balance dedication to their families with serving our country, access to child care options shouldn’t be an additional barrier,” said Senator Ernst. “As a mother and grandmother who served in uniform, I understand all too well the unique challenges military families face. My HERO Child Care for Military Families Act provides commonsense, bipartisan solutions to cut through the red tape, better understand the shortages, and reduce hiring delays so our military families have the support they need in every season of life.” “When service members don’t have reliable, affordable childcare, it causes stress that follows them into the field, onto the ship, into the cockpit, and ultimately on deployment,” said Rye Barcott, Co-Founder and CEO of With Honor. “The HERO Childcare for Military Families Act recognizes the sacrifices our military families make to serve this nation, and provides the support they need to ensure mission success. With Honor is proud to endorse this legislation, and we thank With Honor Senate ally Sen. Joni Ernst, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, For Country Caucus member Rep. Jen Kiggans , and Rep. Sara Jacobs for their commitment to our military families.” Specifically, the Helping Ensure Reliable Opportunities (HERO) in Child Care for Military Families Act would: Give the Department of Defense (DOD) the authority to enter into a partnership agreement with AmeriCorps to allow AmeriCorps volunteers to be placed at DOD Child Development Centers (CDCs) as providers. Create a first-of-its-kind DOD child care readiness data system to track child care capacity, utilization, workforce staffing levels, demand and waitlists across the services. Allow preclearance of child care employees at DOD CDCs to expedite hiring and mitigate the onboarding delays. Currently, some child care employees hired by DOD leave before their tenures officially start because the clearance process takes so long and they cannot earn their full salary while not appropriately cleared. Allow DOD to hire part-time child care providers for their CDCs and tap into a new crop of providers, particularly military spouses, who are unable to commit 40 hours per week but could do part time care. Allow limited Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) access for DOD child care employees, including commissary and exchange access to increase recruitment and retention of CDC providers by allowing them access to on-base benefits in line with what other DOD civilians receive. Expand eligibility for child care providers using the DOD’s fee assistance program and grow the provider options available to service members. Require DOD to collect comprehensive data on military child care waitlists and how the availability of child care impacts the readiness of our Armed Forces. A copy of the bill text can be found HERE . Senator Shaheen has been a leader in advocating for more affordable and accessible child care. Earlier this year, Shaheen secured key priorities in the bipartisan Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill , including $8.8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Shaheen also strongly opposes the Trump Administration’s attacks on Head Start . ###