Options for Improving the Military Child Care System

Options for Improving the Military Child Care System PDF Author: Gail Zellman
Publisher: Occasional Papers
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
"The evidence presented in this paper questions whether the current U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) system of in-kind subsidies for child care is meeting DoD recruitment, readiness, and retention goals or service member needs in an optimal way. DoD appears to be reaping limited benefits from the substantial subsidies provided to families that use Child Development Centers. Many families cannot or choose not to use the subsidized on-base DoD programs; these families receive no support for child care costs. The authors' findings suggest that the DoD child care system could change in a number of ways to better meet DoD and family needs. First, it could redistribute resources within the current system. Rethinking priority policies from the perspective of both child care need and the degree to which care characteristics fit with likely DoD and service member needs would be another important way to change the system. DoD may also wish to expand the child care benefit to cover more military families and a broader set of child care needs. Alternatively, DoD could expand access to child care through the use of cash benefits, vouchers, and/or negotiated discounts with local providers that meet quality standards, while continuing to provide some amount of DoD Family Child Care homes and Child Development Center care. DoD may also want to invest more resources in assessing the value of child care benefits, as it does for other military compensation components." -- provided by publisher.

Options for Improving the Military Child Care System

Options for Improving the Military Child Care System PDF Author: Gail Zellman
Publisher: Occasional Papers
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
"The evidence presented in this paper questions whether the current U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) system of in-kind subsidies for child care is meeting DoD recruitment, readiness, and retention goals or service member needs in an optimal way. DoD appears to be reaping limited benefits from the substantial subsidies provided to families that use Child Development Centers. Many families cannot or choose not to use the subsidized on-base DoD programs; these families receive no support for child care costs. The authors' findings suggest that the DoD child care system could change in a number of ways to better meet DoD and family needs. First, it could redistribute resources within the current system. Rethinking priority policies from the perspective of both child care need and the degree to which care characteristics fit with likely DoD and service member needs would be another important way to change the system. DoD may also wish to expand the child care benefit to cover more military families and a broader set of child care needs. Alternatively, DoD could expand access to child care through the use of cash benefits, vouchers, and/or negotiated discounts with local providers that meet quality standards, while continuing to provide some amount of DoD Family Child Care homes and Child Development Center care. DoD may also want to invest more resources in assessing the value of child care benefits, as it does for other military compensation components." -- provided by publisher.

Managing Military Child Care Centers

Managing Military Child Care Centers PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children of military personnel
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Child Care

Child Care PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Child care services
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Options for Improving the Military Child Care System

Options for Improving the Military Child Care System PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 79

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Book Description
The U.S. military child care system is the largest employer-sponsored child care system in the nation, widely recognized for providing high-quality care. A range of different settings enables the system to meet military parents' needs for reliable, high-quality care while recognizing parental preferences concerning environment, size (the number of children cared for in that provider setting), and flexibility. Subsidies based on family income ensure affordability. Despite its size, the military child care system serves only a small percentage of eligible families needing child care assistance. Care in Child Development Centers (CDCs) is quite costly for DoD to provide; care for the youngest children is particularly expensive since parent fees are based on family income and not on the cost of care. Care in Family Child Care (FCC) homes is substantially less costly. There is little evidence that the care provided in DoD-run CDCs and FCC homes addresses DoD employer goals of increased readiness, retention, and recruitment. Moreover, families that cannot or choose not to use CDC or FCC care receive no help covering their child care expenses. Moreover, they may rely on care that is mediocre, given their often limited financial resources and the fact that the average quality of care in civilian communities is generally not high. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness asked RAND researchers to use the insight they have gained during several previous studies on military child care to reexamine military child care as a compensation issue and evaluate options for transforming the current military child care system. In this paper, we provide an overview of the military child care system and assess the system's success in cost-effectively meeting DoD readiness, retention, and recruitment goals. In particular, we consider the logic of DoD offering military child care as an in-kind benefit.

Providing Child Care to Military Families

Providing Child Care to Military Families PDF Author: Joy S. Moini
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 083303927X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
The Office of the Secretary of Defense asked the RAND Corporation to assess the Department of Defense (DoD) child-care demand formula as a tool for translating information on military families into measures of potential child-care need and to suggest ways that the tool might be improved. The authors assess the validity of the DoD formula in meeting child-care needs, analyze the factors that influence key child-care outcomes, and address the broader issue of how DoD can refine its goals for military child care.

Military Child Care

Military Child Care PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children of military personnel
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Military Child Care

Military Child Care PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services. Military Personnel and Compensation Subcommittee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Child care services
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Examining the Cost of Military Child Care

Examining the Cost of Military Child Care PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Book Description
The Department of Defense (DoD) has developed an impressive system for delivering quality child care to the children of DoD employees. This system currently provides care to nearly 200,000 children on a daily basis, ranging in age from six weeks to 12 years. To care for these children, the DoD operates Child Development Centers (CDCs) around the world, supports a network of Family Child Care (FCC) homes, and offers before and after-school, holiday, and summer programs for school-age children. The military child-care system is the largest system of employer- sponsored child care in the country, and it has received wide recognition for the high-quality and affordable care it provides. At the same time, the DoD has been under pressure to control expenditures and has explored how the cost of support activities such as child care might be reduced. In the mid-1990s, part of this examination included discussions on the feasibility and potential value of outsourcing military child care. Although the impetus to outsource has waned as policymakers realized that there were limited opportunities for cost savings through outsourcing of child care, given the strict staffing requirements in the delivery of high-quality care, information about the cost of child care remains an important management and policy tool.

An Overview of Child Care Center Management (First Edition)

An Overview of Child Care Center Management (First Edition) PDF Author: Colleen Fawcett
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781516520893
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
The anthology An Overview of Child Care Center Management features outstanding articles that are directly related to the assignments required for credentialing. The material is organized into three primary sections covering administrative organization, financial and legal issues, and childcare and educational programming. Specific topics include writing a center philosophy and mission statement, conducting evaluations, developing a budget and marketing plan, complying with employment law and health and safety guidelines, designing curriculum and learning activities, and planning a system of parent support. Chapters can be taught in any order, which allows instructors to tailor their programs of instruction. Each chapter includes discussion questions that promote critical thinking and student engagement. An Overview of Child Care Center Management was developed specifically to meet the needs of students pursuing a director's credential program in the state of Florida but can be used in any credential program. The book is particularly well-suited to classes in child care center management and early childhood development. Colleen Fawcett earned her Ph.D. in early childhood education at the International University of Costa Rica. Dr. Fawcett is now a faculty member at Palm Beach State College where she teaches courses in early childhood language arts, fine arts and movement, conflict resolution, child care center management, and child growth and development.

Program Development in Military Child Care Settings

Program Development in Military Child Care Settings PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children of military personnel
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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