Agency Offers Child Care Assistance to Military Families

by Megan Elliott
Columbia Recruiting Battalion Intern 

As soon as he found out that he was going to be a father, Staff Sgt. Eric Rasmussen started planning for the little addition to his family, much like many expectant fathers. He and his wife started thinking of baby names, deciding on nursery themes, registering for their baby shower gifts, and placed themselves on a waiting list for child care.

Quality child care was a top priority for Rasmussen and his wife Tamara, but how to afford it? He is an Army recruiter based in Asheville, N.C., which is not near any military installation. Luckily for him, the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) was a program that he was familiar with through his recruiting role, and after doing his research, he found out that he could get assistance for his daughter's child care through a Military Fee Assistance Program.

"We wanted to give our daughter the best chances when she entered kindergarten, and the best way to do that is to find a good preschool program," Rasmussen said about the search. "I had to find some way to help us find a program that met our standards and then pay for it."

NACCRRA is an organization that works with Child Care Resource and Referral agencies nationwide to provide "training, resources, technical support, best practice guidance, policy analysis, national partnership opportunities and national advocacy in the areas of child care and early learning," according to their strategic plan.

The standards of NACCRRA are set very high, which met Rasmussen's own standards for his daughter's care. "I wanted to find a program in our area that met these standards, so I set out and reviewed almost every program myself," he said.

Federal standards for child care are very general, and involve the safety and health of children under non-family care. They do not address education, which is where NACCRRA comes in. They establish more strict rules and guidelines for child care organizations and also helps these child care centers to develop their educational programs.

According to their strategic plan, the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies found that the cost of center-based accredited care was up to $16,835 a year for infants and $11,960 a year for four-year-olds. This is out of the financial reach of most families, so they find centers that they can afford and then "hope for the best." The cost of child care, and the supply of quality child care, can be a challenge to most families.

NACCRRA's Military Fee Assistance Program is available to help military families find and afford child care that suits their needs, and also provides a monthly subsidy to help pay for that child care, which is based on a few criteria.

Eligibility may vary by military branch, and the assistance is generally based on the total family income and the provider rate. The child care program must be registered with NACCRRA, which means that the program meets their standards for care.

For more information about NACCRRA and their military fee assistance program, they welcome calls at 1-800-424-2246 or emails at msp@naccrra.org.