Military Child Care

Potential Costs and Impacts of Expanding Off-Base Child Care Assistance for Children of Deceased Servicemembers

The Department of Defense (DOD) considers its child care program, which includes on-base and off-base child care for military families, a workforce support that directly affects military force readiness, efficiency, and retention. Most of the children in DOD’s child care programs are cared for in subsidized child development centers on military bases. When military families cannot access on-base child care due to geographic distance or because there are no openings, DOD subsidizes the cost of off-base care through its fee assistance program.

According to DOD officials, this program offers fee assistance to offset the additional cost of off-base care and reduces out-of-pocket expenses for families. In fiscal year 2019, DOD spent more than $90 million to subsidize off-base child care fees for about 36,000 children.

The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA) includes a provision for GAO to review the implications of expanding fee assistance for off-base providers of child care services to survivors of members of the Armed Forces who die in non-combat related incidents in the line of duty.1 Currently, only the survivors of servicemembers who die in combat-related incidents are eligible to receive fee assistance for child care.

Background

The fee assistance program is one of multiple DOD child care programs and offers families the option of pursuing off-base care when on-base care is not available. Child care services are offered from birth through age 12 in a variety of on- and off-base settings. The fee assistance program is administered by CCAoA, a private contractor that helps families find qualified child care providers and, once a child is placed, pays military subsidies directly to the provider. Providers must meet DOD requirements for child care, which include national accreditation, state licensure, an annual licensing-agency inspection, and employee background checks.

According to DOD policy, eligibility for child care assistance on- or off-base is contingent on the status of the child’s sponsor and their spouse, when applicable. DOD policy defines sponsors to include, among others, servicemembers, DOD civilian employees, and surviving spouses of servicemembers who died in a combat-related incident. Once a sponsor is determined to be eligible for child care assistance, DOD determines priority for care based on their working status and other characteristics. For example, active-duty servicemember families are largely given priority for child care placement over civilian families.

All military service branches calculate their fee assistance subsidy for off-base child care providers by subtracting the rate a family would pay for on-base child care—which varies depending on total family income—from the rate charged by the off-base provider, up to a set provider rate cap per child per month, according to DOD officials. While the calculation is standard, the off-base provider rate cap for the subsidy has varied by military branch and location. For example, in fiscal year 2021, Army’s cap was $1,500 per month, while the three other service branches, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, had a cap of $1,100 per month for a standard-cost area and $1,300 per month for a high-cost area. Starting in fiscal year 2022, however, DOD will phase in changes to standardize and raise the monthly provider rate caps across service branches.9 Families are responsible for paying any fee amount remaining after the subsidy directly to the provider.

Key Factors

Overall, actual costs would be driven by several key factors:

• Number of servicemembers who die in noncombat-related incidents who have children. In fiscal year 2020, 238 servicemembers died in noncombat-related incidents who had children who could have been eligible for fee assistance,13 and there were 398 children age 12 or under associated with servicemembers who died in non-combat related incidents in fiscal year 2020, according to our analysis of DOD data. (See enclosure II for additional data on the number of servicemembers who died in noncombat-related incidents and had children who could have been eligible for fee assistance over the last 5 years and the number of children associated with such servicemembers.) The composition of servicemembers’ families is subject to change over time. From fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2019, the percentage of active-duty servicemembers with children across all statuses (single, married, and dual-military spouses) decreased by 8.7 percentage points, according to DOD data.

• Age of children and length of their enrollment in the fee assistance program. Although a child’s age is not a factor in calculating fee assistance, provider rates are likely to be higher for younger children who are not yet school aged, and therefore, the amount of fee assistance used may be greater. According to DOD, infant and toddler care is the department’s most expensive and in-demand category of child care across the nation. For example, in the case of Army fee assistance, families of active-duty Army servicemembers with a child who was not yet school aged received greater amounts of fee assistance—an average $531 per month per child—than those with a school-age child—an average $365 per month per child—in January 2021, the most recent data at the time of our analysis. According to DOD officials, the length of time that children are enrolled in child care can vary based on factors such as the age at which they enter the program. Children were enrolled in the fee assistance program, on average, for 2.5 years, according to CCAoA fiscal year 2019 data. As children reach school age, the demand for child care may lessen, and families may not require fee assistance to the same extent or consistently throughout the year, according to DOD officials. Eighty-three percent of children participating in the fee assistance program were younger than school aged, according to our analysis of CCAoA fiscal year 2019 data. DOD officials said families may also leave the fee assistance program if relocating or if on-base care becomes available.

• Awareness of the program. Some DOD officials said that servicemembers who are geographically separated from military bases or who have only recently been activated may lack awareness of the fee assistance program.

• However, DOD officials said outreach has been expanded in recent years. For example, some of the service branches are starting to use the MilitaryChildCare.com web portal so families can more easily sign up for the fee assistance program.

• Priority ranking. As noted earlier, DOD policy is designed to give military families the highest priority for care after DOD child care staff, which could limit the participation and subsequent cost of serving lower-priority families. One senior official from DOD’s Office of Military Family Readiness Policy explained that families who are eligible for fee assistance but have a lower priority ranking may not always receive fee assistance, particularly in high demand areas. According to this official, families of servicemembers who die in noncombat-related incidents would most likely receive Priority 3 ranking—the lowest rank—the same as families of servicemembers who die in combat-related incidents.

• Need for and availability of off-base care. Some families may not need fee assistance or may be unable or unwilling to find providers who meet program requirements, deterring their participation and lowering the cost to serve these families. Some families choose to care for their children themselves and do not need child care, and DOD officials said some families have a child care provider that does not meet DOD program requirements and do not want to switch to one that does.

Finally, some families may struggle to find providers which meet DOD requirements, according to DOD officials. To increase the number of available providers, DOD has piloted an initiative in three states that enables providers that are not yet accredited but meet states’ quality rating standards to participate in the fee assistance program, according to DOD officials.

• Cost of off-base care. Provider rates for the off-base child care selected by program participants influence costs. Fee assistance covers the cost of care up to a monthly provider rate cap, and families using more expensive care options may be more likely to reach that cap. Child care costs vary by location and the level of quality of care (e.g., whether a provider is accredited), according to DOD data and officials.

• Income of servicemembers’ families. The income of those surviving families who participate in fee assistance will influence costs. The amount of fee assistance a family qualifies for depends, in part, on total family income. Lower income families may qualify for higher amounts of fee assistance, assuming that other factors are the same.

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