ALCOAST 150/24 - APR 2024 1 APRIL 2024 LAUNCH OF COAST GUARD UTILIZATION OF MILITARYCHILDCARE.COM

R 011740Z APR 24   MID120000996659U
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS
ALCOAST 150/24
SSIC 1754
SUBJ: 1 APRIL 2024 LAUNCH OF COAST GUARD UTILIZATION OF
MILITARYCHILDCARE.COM
1. This ALCOAST announces the 1 April 2024 launch of Coast Guard
Child Development Centers participation in the Department of
Defense (DoD) MilitaryChildCare.com online childcare space
request process. MilitaryChildCare.com will replace paper request
processes at all Coast Guard operated child development centers.
simplifies and streamlines the search for child care and connects
families to quality child care options within the Coast Guard
and DoD.
2. The MilitaryChildCare.com web site is designed to help families
make informed child care choices. The site explains how to request
and manage child care options and provides parents information
about all their military child care options including the Coast
Guard's Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) fee
assistance program. The site explains enrollment priorities and
how this impacts waitlist sequencing for families requesting a
childcare space.
3. MilitaryChildCare.com offers the workforce a more robust,
flexible, and user-friendly portal that is available 365 days a year
and 24 hours a day. The portal can be accessed through Coast Guard
workstations and personal devices. Eligible users can conduct
unlimited, customized searches to find child care providers close to
home or work and request care at any time from any location. This
flexibility allows families to identify available child care options
wherever their mission takes them.
4. To best address the unique needs of military connected families,
military child care programs offer several options that meet
rigorous standards for quality. Military-operated programs are based
in child care and school age centers and must be certified by the CG
or DoD and meet national accreditation requirements. A quality
alternative to center-based care, military Family Child Care (FCC)
providers care for a small group of children in their government
owned homes. All FCC providers are regularly monitored and certified
by the CG or DoD. The Coast Guard MCCYN fee assistance program
partners with community child care providers to offer CG and DoD
families greater access to high-quality care near their duty station
or where they reside. Child care providers participating in the CG
MCCYN fee program must have annual inspections and a valid state
license for the ages of children served in their program.
5. The purpose of military child care is to ensure that families
have the support they need to be mission ready. To ensure the
most mission-critical families have access to military child care,
DoD assigns a priority for care to each family type and uses this
when placing children into care. To ensure parity access to DoD
childcare programs, the Coast Guard CDCs are aligning with the DoD
priority access to childcare. Please review the priority guidelines
at:
(Copy and Paste URL Below into Browser)

https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central
/mcchome/family-eligibility-priority-guidelines

6. Please review the video and information on the Military Child
Care web site at the following link:
(Copy and Paste URL Below into Browser)

https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central/mcchome

Coast Guard specific information, can be found at the following
link:
(Copy and Paste URL Below into Browser)

https://public.militarychildcare.csd.disa.mil/mcc-central/mcchome/
coast-guard-child-care

7. For questions on this transition, contact Renee L. Podolec
(CG-1K12), Child Development Services Program Manager at
renee.l.podolec@uscg.mil
8. RADM Dana L. Thomas, Assistant Commandant for Health, Safety,
and Work-Life (CG-1K), sends.
9. Internet release is authorized.