- MCCYN-PLUS Initiative (QRIS) Expansion
Effective October 1, 2019, the Military Services expanded the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) to include MCCYN-PLUS. The MCCYN-PLUS initiative will include community child care programs that are quality rated by their state Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), in locations where nationally accredited care is unavailable. The MCCYN-PLUS initiative is currently active in:
- Washington – Effective February 7, 2022
- Florida: Miami-Dade County – Effective September 1, 2022
- Texas – Effective October 3, 2022
- Colorado – Effective November , 2022
- Kentucky – Effective January 9, 2023
- North Carolina – Effective March 13, 2023
This initiative has no impact to families receiving fee assistance with their current provider. Families receiving fee assistance may stay with their current provider until the time that the youngest child ages out of the program, the family dis-enrolls, or the provider becomes ineligible due to non-compliance with state licensing or program policies. However, these guidelines should be taken into consideration if you are planning on changing your provider in the future. For more information about MCCYN-PLUS, please visit our website at https://usa.childcareaware.org/feeassistancerespiteproviders/qris-mccyn-plus/.
- School Year 2023-2024 DoD Child Development Program Fees – Posted December 1, 2023
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense released the School Year (SY) 2023-2024 DoD Child Development Program Fee updating child care fees and Total Family Income (TFI) categories for all military child care programs. Details on the changes and when it would impact your fee assistance are included in School Year 2023-2024 DoD Child Development Program Fees.
- Eligibility for DoD Child Care Programs – Effective May 31, 2022
DoD child care programs, to include the fee assistance program, provide child care to support the DoD mission. Eligibility is contingent on the status of the sponsor. Per DoDI 6060.02 – In cases of unmarried, legally separated parents with joint custody, or divorced parents with joint custody, children are eligible for DoD child care programs only when they reside with the military service member or eligible civilian sponsor at least 25 percent of the time in a month that the child receives child care through a DoD program. Divorce decree with parenting plan must be provided. The Sponsor and other parent needs to meet all other eligibility requirements and the other parent needs to be employed/going to school. Total Family Income should include income for both parents.
Sponsors seeking sole parent status to exclude the income from one of the legal parents must provide court-ordered legal separation or divorce documents with sponsor having sole physical custody of the child and the child must reside with the sponsor permanently. If the court documents are not available, a memo signed by the Commander confirming the sponsor is the sole caregiver from the child may be accepted until court documents are available.
- Policy updates per Headquarters Department of the Army Execution Order 058-21, School Year 2020-2021 – Army Child and Youth Fee Implementation Regulatory Guidance and Community Update – Posted January 15, 2021
Policy Update 1
Effective immediately each family, regardless of income category, must provide income documentation. Failure to provide the required information will delay the processing and approval of child care services and could result in denial of child care services.
Policy Update 2
Fort Detrick-Frederick is now considered a High Cost installation. Families assigned to Fort Detrick-Frederick and enrolled with community based providers, will start paying high cost parent fees, similar to the fees paid on the installation, for their Total Family Income Category upon re-certification or when a change is made to your application resulting in a new calculation for fee assistance.
Families assigned to Fort Detrick-Frederick may contact Child Care Aware® of America to inquire about their new parent fees or visit https://detrick.armymwr.com/application/files/1116/0554/1208/Ft_Detrick_CYS_CDC_2020-21_DOD_Fee_Structure_Chart_HIGH_COSTWEB.pdf
You may also contact the Installation Management Command (IMCOM) – Army Fee Assistance team via email at usarmy.jbsa.imcom-fmwrc.mbx.army-fee-assistance@army.mil.
** rates published on the Ft Detrick website may vary depending on program type and applicable discounts.
- Due to the effects of COVID-19, operational changes have been made so that we can continue to support Army families; however, the Army Fee Assistance program may experience delays in processing times. To support Families, the AFA Program will make the following changes, effective until further notice.
If you were not charged for care within an entire month due to center closures you should NOT submit attendance sheets for that month.
Stopping care due to reasons other than COVID-19 and do NOT plan to return: Please report this as termination to CCAoA!
Call 800-424-2246 or MSP@usa.childcareaware.org to report this change so AFA subsidy payments can be properly ended. The last attendance sheet submitted should reflect this termination of care as well.
School Age Children effective 12 August 2020:
Fee Assistance for full time care may be authorized for school age children until children are able to go back to school for on-campus learning. Providers must meet the eligibility requirements for the program. Private School Tuition is not eligible for the Army Fee Assistance Program. If you have received an approval for full time care, please notify us as soon as changes in care are made and/or children return to on-campus learning. Please report any changes by submitting the Provider Cost Verification Form.
Returning to Care
Families who voluntarily withdrew their children from daycare due to COVID-19 concerns, but provider continued to charge to hold the space, need to return to care prior to 1 November 2020 in order for payments to continue to be made.
Please note that as the impact of COVID-19 evolves, AFA processing guidelines may be updated. All information provided is subject to change as policies are being developed. Please check back often for the most up to date information.
- Spouse/Non-military Parent School and Employment Requirements
Spouses/non-military parents that do not have a traditional work schedule or that are enrolled in non-traditional school programs may be eligible to receive fee assistance. Please see below to determine if you are eligible for the program based on the spouse/non-military parent’s work schedule or school program.
Non-traditional school programs:
- Non-term Institutions – Spouses/non-military parents enrolled in non-term institutions that do not operate according to a traditional academic calendar must submit their schedule of classes with all required information, in addition to a receipt/invoice showing they have paid for the classes. These documents will be used to determine your eligibility for fee assistance.
- Self-Paced Programs – Self-paced programs do not meet the requirement for the fee assistance program and are not accepted.
Non-traditional work schedules:
- Self-employed – Self-employment is defined as being directly engaged in an income producing trade or business started and carried on in good faith for the purpose of making a living and presented to the general public as being engaged in selling goods and/or services regularly with repetition and continuity of operation as one’s occupation. This can be as an independent contractor or business owner. Self-employed individuals must comply with State and Federal labor and tax laws.
- Spouses who work for a company as an independent contractor must provide an IRS form 1099-NEC – “Non-employee compensation”, a 1099-K – “Card Payment and Third Party Network Transactions” or 1099-MISC – “Miscellaneous income” from the previous year by 28 February. If the spouse has no employment history as an independent contractor and no 1099 is available the sponsor shall submit a self-certification statement with the estimated number of hours worked on a weekly basis and estimated annual income. Estimated annual income must be supported by one-month worth of payments received from the company.
- Spouses who own their own business must provide a copy of the 1040 schedule C – “Profit or Loss from Business” to report income from a business operated or a profession practiced as a sole proprietor. New business owners who do not have a schedule C must submit a self-certification statement or Self Employment Verification form with the estimated number of hours worked on a weekly basis and estimated annual income. A schedule C shall be submitted the following year by 15 April. Depending on the business structure, different tax forms may be accepted to verify income earned.
Effective 4 November 2021 the following method is used to determine if self-employment is an allowable activity for the purpose of fee assistance, eligibility of one of the following methods shall be used:
- Divide the weekly self-employment income by the minimum wage of the state the business/activity is operated in. If the result does not equal or exceed the required number of hours to justify full-time or part-time employment for the purpose of determining fee assistance eligibility the activity/business may not be accepted as employment.
- Divide the gross self-employment income by the number of hours the spouse reports working. If the result is less than the minimum wage in the state the business/activity is operated in the activity/business may not be accepted as employment.
Spouses may use the 90 days Looking-for-Work form to allow sufficient time in increase earnings to an acceptable level.
- Substitute Teachers – Substitute teachers must provide one month’s worth of pay stubs that validate at least 25 hours per week to be eligible for full-time care. If they cannot provide evidence of at least 25 hours, they must provide evidence of at least 16 hours minimum per week to be eligible for part-time care.
- On-Call Employees – On-call employees must provide one month’s worth of pay stubs that validate at least 25 hours per week to be eligible for full time care. If they cannot provide evidence of at least 25 hours, they must provide evidence of at least 16 hours minimum per week to be eligible for part-time care.
