NGA Child Care Fee Assistance Program
Thank you for your interest in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Child Care Fee Assistance Program administered by Child Care Aware® of America. The NGA Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) Fee Assistance Program is no longer available for newly enrolling civilians employed by the NGA. The program will continue to support currently enrolled civilian families employed by NGA into 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What Programs Are Available?
- Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN)
Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) provides fee assistance for families of Full Time National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Employees, with a Total Family Income (TFI) of $143,780 or less, who are unable to access installation sponsored child care. If it is determined that a family’s TFI is over $143,780, then the family will not be eligible for the fee assistance program.
MCCYN is an extension of the child care services offered at the various DoD installations throughout the United States. Qualifying MCCYN NGA Sponsors must be connected to an accredited provider to ensure their child(ren) are receiving community child care of comparable quality to the type of care administered at installation Child Development Center or Child Development Home programs.
NGA Sponsors who are eligible to participate in MCCYN must select a provider with a state child care license, an inspection report dated within the last 12 months, a complete provider fee assistance application, an acceptable employee background check for all staff, and one of the following requirements for accreditation:
- Child Care Centers
In order for child care centers to meet MCCYN requirements, they must be accredited by one of the approved national accreditation agencies listed below:
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
- National Accreditation Commission (NAC)
- National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA)
- Council on Accreditation (COA)
- Cognia – NCA/SACS/NWAC (formerly AdvancED)
- Middle States Association (MSA)
- Maryland State Dept. of Education (MSDE) Accreditation (Maryland ONLY)
- Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI)*
- Accredited Professional Preschool Learning Environment – APPLE (Effective 1-1-2022)
- American Montessori Society – AMS (Effective 1-1-2022)
- Association for Montessori International/USA-AMI/USA (Effective 1-1-2022)
- Child Care Centers pursuing national accreditation through the Self-Study process
*Please note the agencies listed above are the only approved national accreditations that are accepted for the military fee assistance programs.
- Family Child Care
In order for family child care providers to meet MCCYN requirements, they must have achieved one of the following high-quality credentials listed below:
- Child Development Associate (CDA) credential awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition
- Associate’s degree or higher in Early Childhood Education or Child Development
- National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) Accreditation
For a list of providers who have at one time participated in the fee assistance program, click here to search for accredited providers. Once you have located a provider, please contact us to verify their eligibility and current status within the program (1-800-424-2246). For more information on the child care provider application requirements, please click here.
- Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN)
- What Supporting Documents Are Needed?
Below is a list of commonly required documentation:
- Self Certification Form – for children listed on the application (children eligible for fee assistance must be living in the same household of the NGA Sponsor and be identified as a legal dependent. Fee assistance programs are provided for children ages birth through 12 years).
- Spouse/Non-Sponsor Parent information (applies to unmarried parents living in the same household, or parents sharing custody of the children) – If the Spouse/Non-Sponsor Parent is employed, one month’s worth of pay stubs with verification that they are working 25 hours or more per week. If they are unable to provide pay stubs due to recent employment, please have their supervisor complete the Employment Verification Form for a 60 day approval period, while we wait for the Spouse/Non-Sponsor Parent to submit one month’s worth of their pay stubs.
- If the Spouse/Non-Sponsor Parent is enrolled in school, a school schedule verifying enrollment with 12 or more credit hours for undergraduate, or 9 or more credits at a graduate level. School schedule must include the student’s name, the school’s name, the number of enrolled credits, and the period of the current semester.
- A one-time 90 day certification of looking for work approval period may be utilized by the Spouse/Non-Sponsor Parent, if they are currently searching for employment. The Looking for Work Form must be completed in order to take advantage of the approval period.
- CLES – A current copy of the NGA Sponsor’s Civilian Leave and Earnings Statement dated within the past 90 days will be required.
- SF-50 – The SF-50 is required for all Full Time NGA Sponsors. Please supply your current year SF-50 form.
- Provider Cost Verification Form – The Provider Cost Verification Form collects all required information about the child care rates your family will be charged by the child care provider. This includes discounts, effective dates, rate changes, rate frequency, and the schedule of care. This form will be used to process your fee assistance application and ensure that no over-payments occur. You will be required to submit this form with your family application after it has been confirmed that your child care provider is eligible to participate in the fee assistance programs.
- Provider Documents– All eligible providers for the assistance program must have a state child care license, a state inspection report dated within the last 12 months, an acceptable employee background check for all staff, and a complete provider fee assistance application, and must meet additional high quality accreditation standards. Applications for fee assistance will not be processed until the selected provider meets all program eligibility requirements and has submitted a complete application.
This program is not an entitlement program and is subject to the availability of funds, which may be discontinued at any time.
Frequently Requested Forms
- Information Update Request Form
- Schedule of Care Form
- Change of Provider Form
- Parent Signature Page
- Provider Fee Assistance Application (only required for Providers who have not previously participated)
- Direct Deposit Form
- Provider W-9
- EIN Instructions
- How Is Fee Assistance Calculated?
Child Care Fee Assistance Total Family Income Categories, DoD Parent Fees, and Provider Caps
Fee assistance is determined by calculating the difference between the community child care provider’s monthly fee, which shall not exceed the program’s established community provider cap for the specific type of care, and the DoD Total Family Income (TFI) category parent fee based on locality and type of care.
If a family chooses a provider who charges more than the community provider cap, then the family is responsible for paying their DoD TFI parent fee for their locality and type of care, as well as the additional tuition cost beyond the provider cap. Furthermore, if the difference between the community provider’s fee and the DoD TFI parent fee is less than $25/month, then a monthly fee assistance reimbursement will not be awarded since the community provider fee is comparable to the DoD TFI parent fee.
Please be advised that the DoD TFI parent fees used to calculate assistance for this program are based on similar DoD sponsored child care services, which may not always match the exact parent fee a family would pay for care at an installation sponsored Child Development Center or Family Child Care.
Families living within the identified high-cost installation localities will be calculated using the established DoD TFI high-cost parent fees. All other families living outside the identified high-cost installation localities will be calculated using the DoD TFI basic parent fees.
You can view the FY24 Total Family Income Categories, DoD Parent Fees, High Cost Installations, and Provider Caps that determine fee assistance.
NGA Fee Assistance Payment Policies
NGA Payment Calendar 2020-2021
NGA Payment Calendar 2021-2022
- Why is Accredited Care Important?
National accreditation is an additional criteria used to determine the quality of a child care program. Family child care homes and child care centers may pursue accreditation in order to increase the level of their care.
Accredited providers must meet higher standards than those set forth by state licensing. These programs offer the kind of care, attention, and educational activities parents look for in high-quality child care, in addition to activities and experiences that aid a child’s growth and development, which will better prepare them for school.
