Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood is a Department of Defense program designed to meet the child care needs of Service Members and Civilians living in areas where on-base military child care is not available.  Eligible Service Members include Recruiting Command, Cadet Command, and Military Entrance Processing personnel.

  Now with Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood, many of them will be eligible to pay reduced fees for the care of their children.  To meet this need, the DoD has asked National Association of Child Care and Resource Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) to partner with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&R) to locate or develop high quality child care spaces that meet DoD quality standards, and provide fee assistance to lower the child care cost to military Families.

  The civilian child care programs that provide Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood child care spaces are comparable in quality to Military-operated on-base spaces and meet most DoD and Service standards.

How exactly will Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood work?

The Service Member, Civilian, spouse, or legal guardian contacts Child Care Aware, a division of NACCRRA, toll-free at 800-424-2246 to determine eligibility.  If eligible, families can enroll by using the NACCRRA web page and clicking on the link for the appropriate military Service.  Applications can be filled out on line, then sent by mail or fax. 

NACCRRA staff will collect information to determine eligibility and specific child care needs. 

In addition to the parent and provider application, NACCRRA requires the following documents (copies) via e/mail, fax, or mail: 

Service Member’s military orders
Leave and Earnings statement (LES) for both the 
    Service Member/Civilian and spouse (most recent 
    month) 
Child(ren)’s birth certificate(s) 

Callers are given enrollment information about available child care spaces in quality civilian community child care programs. Callers are referred to their local CCR&R agency for available quality spaces. 

  USAREC Soldiers and family members have new assistance service available to them.  The Department of Defense has contracted with Ceridian Corporation to provide a  work/life program at no cost to the Soldier or Family member.

  The service provides online information, educational materials, telephonic consultation and 'face-to-face' counseling to assist Soldiers and Family members with day-to-day life and work.

  'Face-to-face' counseling appointments are scheduled with a professional counselor in your local area.  You receive up to twelve counseling sessions for each separate issue or problem.

  Call 800-342-9647 or visit the Military OneSource web site to request counseling, information, educational pamphlets or CDs, and other resources available through mail.

USAREC formally joined hands with the American Red Cross (ARC) to provide the highest quality of service and care for Soldiers and Family members.  ARC assists Soldiers and Families with Army Emergency Relief funds, recovery from disasters, notification of deployed service members, and many other things.  Click here
to review the MOU with ARC.

  Visit the American Red Cross web site for more information at http://www.redcross.org/

  The U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy has produced an excellent booklet, Spouse's Handbook, for their Family members.  While the handbook is addressed to spouses of NCOs, any new spouse or Family member will benefit from reviewing the information.  It is basic training for spouses and Family members.  Click here to view the handbook.

  Family members are eligible for email accounts through Army Knowledge Online (AKO) at https://www.us.army.mil/portal/portal_home.jhtml as a "Guest" of their Army sponsor's account.  The Army sponsor must have an active AKO account.

Family members can register by clicking on "I'm a New User" and clicking "Next" for Guest Accounts.  You will need to know your sponsor's AKO email address.

  Once your account is created, your sponsor will have to activate your account through the "Sponsor Management Console" in the "My Army Portal" in AKO.  Your account will be active for one year, then renewable.

  You will have a personal email account separate from your sponsor.  You can access it through the internet at the web site above.  Your email address will be firstname.lastname@us.army.mil and you will have your own password.

  A new Military Spouse Career Center commissioned by the Department of Defense Office of Military Community & Family Policy launched at www.Military.com/spouse.  The new resource connects America's 1 million military spouses with education options, scholarships, training programs, career planning tips and employment opportunities.

  The Military Spouse Career Center offers an extensive job board that includes hundreds of thousands of jobs from the public and private sectors.  A list of Military Spouse-Friendly employers is included, and will grow as more employers step forward to participate. 

  You can also find valuable information at the MyArmyLifeToo.com web site, just click here.

  Check out the information about consumer fraud for military members at www.consumer.gov/military/.

   The National Consumers League provides information about consumer fraud at www.fraud.org/.

Helpful Links:

www.aerhq.org
Army Emergency Relief

www.redcross.org/services/disaster 
American Red Cross Disaster Services

www.dod.mil/dfas/
Defense Finance and Accounting Service

usa.gov
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