The Complete Guide to Military Child Care and Help for Military Families with Children in Missouri
How Child Care Aware® of Missouri Along with The US Military and DoD Offer Support to Military Families
Suppose you are a member of the United States Military. In that case, you may be eligible for Department of Defense military child care fee assistance if you cannot access on-installation military child care.
Child Care Aware® of Missouri partners with Child Care Aware of America and the United States Military and Department of Defense to serve and support military families.
This partnership offers help to military families, providing access to military child care through the Fee Assistance and Respite Child Care Programs.
Other military family options and alternative help for military families, in addition to Child Care Aware of America, include Missouri Veterans and My Next Move.
Since the inception of the Child Care Aware military family programs, we have served more than 10 million families to date across the United States. We have designed a network of more than 10,000 licensed child care providers. We aim to help military families find affordable, reputable military child care.
Child Care Aware® of Missouri offers military child care fee assistance for the US Navy, the US Department of the Air Force, the US Marine Corps, and the US Army.
Each branch has slightly different requirements to receive help for military families. If you are in any of these military branches and do not have access to on-base child care, this is an excellent option for you and your military family.
This article will dive deeply into eligibility requirements, how to apply, the documentation you must show, what is covered, and more. We will separate this by branch and discuss each branch’s specific process.
What is the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) Program?
The Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program offers fee assistance for families of Active-Duty Sponsors, Civilians, and Guard/Reserve Technicians who cannot access on-installation military child care.
For Guard and Reserve Technicians to be eligible, they must be on orders for a minimum of 30 consecutive days.
All military child care providers eligible for the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood Program have a state child care license, a state inspection report dated within the past 12 months, completed a provider fee assistance application, and are accredited by one of the DoD-approved accrediting bodies.
Why Accredited Help for Military Families is So Important
National accreditation criteria determine the quality of civilian and military child care programs.
A child care facility that pursues this accreditation may be looking to increase the level of their care since accredited providers must meet higher standards than those set forth by the state.
Accredited programs offer care, attention, and educational activities parents look for in high-quality military child care. Additionally, these programs gear activities and experiences to help children grow and develop, leaving them better equipped for school.
The Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) fee assistance program is an extension of the military child care services offered through various military installations within the United States.
Qualifying military sponsors for the MCCYN program must be connected to an accredited child care provider to ensure the children receive community child care comparable to military Child Development Centers or Child Development Homes.
What is Enhanced Referral?
Suppose you are a qualifying military sponsor and need additional assistance locating nationally accredited care in a specific area. In that case, you may receive an Enhanced Referral from a member of Child Care Aware by calling 1-800-424-2246.
An Enhanced Referral Specialist will conduct a customized military child care search within five business days.
This search considers the parents’ work and home addresses, transportation routes to and from work, hours of care needed, ages of children, and the provider’s eligibility for the fee assistance program.
An Enhanced Referral also allows you to use providers in the Child Care Aware of America preferred provider network. This network currently hosts nearly over six-thousand pre-approved MCCYN providers.
A call with the Enhanced Referral Specialist will connect families and providers and include consumer education, eligibility screening, and information about available child care subsidies to provide help for military families.
Army Military Child Care Fee Assistance
Child Care Aware created the Army Child Care Fee Assistance program to provide Reserve and Active-Duty personnel assistance with finding military child care. We help locate, select, and offset the cost of civilian child care when on-base child care is unavailable or a viable option for the service member and their military family.
To be eligible, you must fit into one of the following categories:
- Active Duty/Deployed Active Duty
- Guard/Reserve activated under Title 10 or Title 32 Federal orders
- Guard/Reserve activated deployed under Title 10 or Title 32 Federal orders
- Army Civilians
- Guard Technicians/Reserve Technicians
How Does Child Care Aware Calculate Subsidy Amounts for Army Military Families?
We authorize subsidy amounts based on your Total Family Income TFI) for those who are eligible and supply monthly payments directly to the prospective child care provider.
The subsidy amount is the difference between what the Sponsor would pay for on-post child care and the off-base child care provider’s rate, up to a provider rate cap of $1500 per child per month.
The Army sponsor will be responsible for the DoD-established parent fees that sponsors pay on post and any amount over the provider rate cap of $1500.
Minimum Schooling Requirements for Army Military Child Care Assistance
To receive help for military families as a member of the Army, non-school-age children must enroll for a minimum of 16 hours per week of care. School-age children must register for a minimum of 6 hours per week of care during the school year and 16 hours per week during summer break.
Help for military families with members serving in the army, does not cover drop-in care for non-school-aged or school-aged children on breaks except for summer; subsidies will not cover winter and spring break, holidays, and snow days.
If you’re an Army military family looking to receive financial assistance for off-base child care, please follow the instructions from the Child Care Aware of America website.
Navy Military Child Care Fee Assistance
Administration of Navy Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) Fee Assistance program is transitioning from Child Care Aware of America to Navy Child and Youth Programs (CYP), becoming effective on October 1, 2022.
Help for military families with members serving in the US Navy, will now be overseen entirely by Navy CYP, handling new enrollments, annual renewals, and monthly fee assistance payments to participating child care providers.
The Navy CYP MCCYN Fee Assistance Team will contact each participating military family with further information on the transition process and timelines.
If you have questions regarding this transition, please review the Navy MCCYN Transition Frequently Asked Questions.
For men and women in the Navy seeking out help for military families or determining if you live in a suitable location, please visit the MCC website to submit a request.
Air Force Military Child Care
Child Care Aware of America administers the Department of the Air Force child care fee assistance program. This program is for children aged 0-12 years.
To receive help for military families through the Department of the Air Force, Sponsors who are eligible to participate in MCCYN must select a military child care provider who meets the following criteria:
- Has a state child care license
- Has an inspection report dated within the last 12 months
- Has a completed the provider fee assistance application
- Has an acceptable employee background check for all staff
- Has met the requirements for accreditation through one of the approved national accreditation agencies.
Applying for Assistance through the MCCYN Program
The following steps outline how to request to participate in the Department of the Air Force Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) program to receive community child care fee assistance:
- Create a Profile on MilitaryChildCare.com
All Department of the Air Force Active-Duty, Guard or Reserve Active Duty, or Dual Status Reserve Technician Sponsors* interested in participating in the MCCYN program, which offers help for military families, must create a household profile on MilitaryChildCare.com.
Please note, If you are a Dual Status Reserve Technician, you must select “DoD Civilian” when selecting your Sponsor’s type when completing your household profile on militarychildcare.com. You will have the option to indicate you are a Dual status Reserve Technician when searching for military child care.
If you do not complete this step, you cannot request the Department of the Air Force MCCYN program, and your children will not be offered a space. - Make Requests for Care and Fee Assistance
All Air Force Sponsors living within 15 miles or 20 minutes of an installation Child Development Center (CDC) or Family Child Care (FCC) program must make an active request for care in their household profile created in step one.
Only after you make this active CDC/FCC request will you be able to make an active community child care fee assistance request for the MCCYN program on militarychildcare.com. - If Extended an Offer in militarychildcare.com – Complete an application
If you receive the help for military families you applied for, it will be issued through militarychildcare.com.
The offer email will also provide instructions on how to accept the space and a link to the Child Care Aware of America fee assistance enrollment portal.
After creating your account in the enrollment portal, you must complete the electronic fee assistance application, upload the required supporting family eligibility documentation, and submit your application through the enrollment portal.
Once your application to receive help for military families is received, along with your supporting documents, Child Care Aware of America will review your documentation and contact you regarding your eligibility and the next steps in the application process.
Marine Corps Military Child Care Fee Assistance Program
To receive the allocated help for military families provided by the Marine Corps Military Child Care Fee Assistance Program, you will follow similar steps to those applying through the Air Force.
First, all those seeking military child care help must create a profile on MilitaryChildCare.com.
If you do not complete this step, you will be unable to request the Marine Corps MCCYN program, and your child will not be offered a space.
After registering through the MCCYN program, you will need to request help for military families for care and fee assistance.
After you have made an active CDC/FCC request (as outlined in the previous section), you will then be able to make an active request for the Marine Corps MCCYN program for child care assistance on militarychildcare.com.
Once you receive your offer for help for military families, it will be issued through Militarychildcare.com. The email you receive will include instructions on accepting the space and a link to the Child Care Aware of America fee enrollment portal.
For more information on receiving Marine Military child care, please visit the CCAoA website to learn about all required supporting documentation, eligible providers, and more.
Help for Military Families Seeking Off-Base Military Child Care in Missouri
To surmise, attaining help for military families requiring off-base child care options is possible through Child Care Aware® of Missouri.
Please note that the military/DoD fee assistance program is unavailable through the Child Care Aware® of Missouri website’s live chat feature.
To request a chat with a fee assistance specialist:
If you have not yet started or applied: Please visit the fee assistance website to find the online application for your branch of service. Once on the login page, click on “New Families.” Look for the “Chat Now” option at the top-right corner.
If you have started an application or applied: Log into your online application, which can be in the application/login portal on the Fee Assistance website. Look for the “Chat Now” button in the top right-hand corner.
Alternatively, feel free to contact us, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am until 7:00 pm, Eastern Time, at 1-800-424-2246
