What Are the Costs of Operating the Military's Child Care System?
Abstract
The Department of Defense (DoD) provides child care through an impressive Child Development Program (CDP). The CDP is large, currently serving about 176,000 children 6 weeks to 12 years old in 900 child development centers (CDCs) and in 9,200 family child care (FCC) homes nationwide. Despite its large size, the CDP is also a high-quality system. The Military Child Care Act of 1989 was designed to promote quality in CDCs, and it has helped to do so through no-notice inspections, salaries tied to training milestones, and the provision of training and curriculum specialists. Today, virtually all CDCs are accredited. Moreover, the DoD has applied some of the same regulations designed to improve quality to FCC homes. CDC care is also affordable the DoD bases parent fees on total family income, not on child age, the common practice in the civilian sector. Finally, care is widely available. How much does this impressive system cost and how do costs vary by child care setting and by child age? In a recent RAND report, Gail Zellman and Susan Gates addressed these questions, using surveys of CDP directors at 60 installations and at five of seven centers operated for the DoD by contractors, interviewing administrative and human resources staff at civilian employer-sponsored child care centers, and developing cost estimates. Their results focused on the three research questions presented here.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA411855
Entities
Organizations
- RAND Corporation