MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Families who pay for off-base child care services may be eligible for a subsidy from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
The subsidy will help support military families with the cost of high-quality child care outside military installations.
“We offer fee assistance for military families,” said Linda Smith, executive director at NACCRRA. “We know that the cost of civilian child care is extremely high and in the case of military families, the parents are shocked when they find out how much it costs.”
Any service member who pays child care in town is eligible to apply for the subsidy.
The amount of assistance the families get from NACCRRA depends on the family’s income and the cost of care in the area, according to Smith.
Parents who are on a waiting list for base child care could be waiting for a couple of days or up to a year depending on the situation, explained Jessica Forrester, an education technician at the station’s Child Development Center.
The first step to getting the subsidy is picking a program that applies specifically to the family. Then an online application must be completed. Depending on the situation, some families will also have to turn in documents, such as the service member’s Leave and Earnings Statement.
The care providers also have to fit criteria, according to Smith. They have to be legally licensed in the state, have a background check and had an inspection in the last year.
“If they haven’t had an inspection, we’ll work with them to see that they get one,” said Smith.
Some subsidy programs that are available to service members in San Diego are the Navy/Marine Corps Child Care in Your Neighborhood and Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood.
For more information on the child care subsidy programs and the application process, visit the Web site www.naccrra.org/MilitaryPrograms, or call NACCRRA at 800-424-2246.