FY2023 NDAA: Military Child Care Programs
INSIGHTi
FY2023 NDAA: Military Child Care Programs
Updated January 17, 2023
The Department of Defense (DOD) operates the largest employer-sponsored child care program in the
United States, serving approximately 200,000 children of servicemembers and DOD civilians. It employs
about 20,000 child care workers, at an annual cost of over $1 billion. Several child care-related provisions
were considered in the House-passed (H.R. 7900) and Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)-
reported (S. 4543) versions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023
NDAA). The enacted legislation (P.L. 117-263; the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2023) amends military-sponsored child care authorities and includes oversight actions
(e.g., required reports and briefings).
Background
DOD provides appropriated and non-appropriated funds to support military child care programs under 10
U.S.C. §§1791 et seq. These include military-operated child development centers (CDCs) as well as
subsidies to privately-operated family child care homes and civilian daycare providers. Parental fees for
child care services are progressively scaled based on total family income. For more information, see CRS
Report R45288, Military Child Development Program: Background and Issues.
Table 1. Selected FY2023 NDAA Child Care Provisions
House-passed (H.R. 7900)
SASC-reported (S. 4543)
Enacted (P.L. 117-263)
Fee Assistance Program
Sec. 573 would have expanded the in-home fee No similar provisions
Not adopted.
assistance pilot program from five to six
locations.
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House-passed (H.R. 7900)
SASC-reported (S. 4543)
Enacted (P.L. 117-263)
Sec. 579 would have required Service
No similar provisions
Sec. 577 adopts the House
Secretaries to promote awareness of fee
provision with an amendment that
assistance benefits and provide a report to
limits the mandated briefings to the
several congressional committees on the
Armed Services Committees.
actions taken.
Sec. 579I would have expressed the sense of
No similar provisions
Sec. 579A adopts the House
Congress that servicemembers who participate
provision with an amendment that
in the Department of State-managed au pair
removes the “sense of Congress”
exchange visitor program should be eligible for
language and limits the mandated
fee assistance under the in-home care pilot
briefings to the Armed Services
program and would have required a DOD
committees.
briefing to the Armed Services and Foreign
Affairs committees on the feasibility of
including au pairs in the fee assistance
program.
CDC Capacity and Staffing Matters
Sec. 623 would have expanded covered
No similar provision
Sec. 642 adopts the House
assistance to civilian childcare providers to
provisions with and amendment
include financial assistance and “free or
that authorizes DOD to charge
reduced-cost childcare services furnished by
reduced fees to civilian CDC
[DOD].”
employees whose children attended
CDCs as a recruitment and
retention incentive.
Sec. 625 would have required DOD to
No similar provision
Sec. 644 adopts the House
conduct a study and report on military
provision with an amendment that
installations with limited child care.
requires a briefing to the Armed
Services committees on military
installations with limited child care.
Sec. 606 would have provided reimbursement
No similar provision
Sec. 627 adopts the House
of travel and transportation costs for a child
provision with an amendment that
care provider incident to a permanent change
authorizes a five-year pilot program
of station.
to reimburse certain travel and
transportation costs for a child care
provider incident to a permanent
change of station.
Sec. 609E would have required a study by the
No similar provision
Sec. 665 adopts the House
Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security
provision with an amendment that
on CDC provider compensation at certain
requires the Secretary of Defense
installations, as well as establishment of
to conduct a CDC compensation
minimum compensation levels based on the
study but does not require an
study.
automatic compensation adjustment
based on the study findings.
No similar provisions
Sec. 573 would have authorized a
Sec. 576 adopts the Senate
pilot program to hire “special
committee provision with an
education inclusion coordinators”
amendment authorizing the hiring
for CDCs.
of “special needs inclusion
coordinators”
CDC Infrastructure
Sec. 2876 would have required certain DOD
No similar provisions
Sec. 2871 adopts the House
investments in improving CDC infrastructure
amendment and includes a
through 2026.
requirement for a DOD briefing to
Congress prior to March 1, 2023.
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Source: CRS analysis of legislation on Congress.gov.
Fee Assistance Program
DOD may subsidize private daycare for military families through an existing fee assistance program. The
FY2021 NDAA (P.L. 116-283 §589(b)) required DOD to carry out a five-year pilot program to expand
fee assistance to in-home child care providers (e.g., nannies) at five high-demand locations. The FY2022
NDAA (P.L. 117-81 §624) authorized the program’s expansion to other locations. Section 573 of the
House-passed FY2023 NDAA would have required DOD to expand the pilot program from five to six
high-demand locations. This provision was not adopted, and the Joint Explanatory Statement to
accompany the FY2023 NDAA notes,
section 624 of the [FY2022 NDAA] … already authorized expansion of the in-home childcare pilot
program to additional locations. We further note that military families continue to face challenges
finding adequate childcare, especially those stationed in remote areas, including Holloman Air Force
Base, New Mexico; Naval Air Station Lemoore, California; Fort Drum, New York; and Marine
Corps Base Twentynine Palms, California. We expect the Secretaries of the military departments to
explore all feasible options for improving availability and access to childcare in such areas,
including consideration of expanding the pilot program.
Section 577 of the enacted legislation adopts a House provision requiring DOD to promote awareness of
fee assistance benefits to military families.
CDC Capacity and Staffing Matters
Provisions enacted in the FY2023 NDAA seek to address capacity and staffing challenges at CDCs.
Section 625 of the House bill would have required a DOD study and report to Congress on CDC capacity,
infrastructure, and cost constraints at certain installations. The enacted bill (Section 644) removes the
requirement for a report and instead requires a DOD briefing on these topics.
Section 609E of the House bill would have required DOD and the Department of Homeland Security to
conduct comparative studies of child care employee compensation in the vicinity of high-demand DOD
and Coast Guard installations. Based on the results of these studies, House Section 609E would have
required CDC employee compensation to be “not less than the average dollar value of the total
compensation of similarly credentialed employees [ ... ] in such geographic area.” 10 U.S.C. §1792
requires CDC employees to have competitive pay rates relative to other employees on the military
installation with similar experience, but does not require rates to be competitive relative to those for local
child care providers or teachers. Section 665 of the enacted legislation adopts the requirement for a study
but removes the requirement for an automatic compensation adjustment.
Section 623 of the House bill would have amended 10 U.S.C. §1798 (fee assistance for civilian child care
providers) to allow civilian child care providers to receive financial assistance and “free or reduced-cost
child care services furnished by [DOD].” Section 642 of the enacted legislation amends a different statute
(10 U.S.C §1793, parent fees for child care) authorizing DOD to provide discounted fees to CDC
employees whose children are enrolled in CDC care “to support recruitment and retention initiatives.”
The enacted legislation includes a provision (Section 627) based on House Section 606 that authorizes a
five-year pilot program to reimburse certain child care costs associated with a military move. This new
transportation allowance (under 37 U.S.C. §453) allows reimbursement of expenses associated with travel
of a designated child care provider (e.g., nanny) if the destination CDC cannot provide care within 30
days of arrival. The allowance may be up to $500 for relocation within the United States and $1,500
outside the continental U.S.
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Section 576 of the enacted legislation adopts a Senate committee provision to authorize a pilot program
for hiring “special needs inclusion coordinators” at CDCs. Selection of pilot program centers would be
guided, in part, by the number of dependent children enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program
at that locality.
CDC Infrastructure
The FY2023 NDAA (Section 2871) requires the military services to invest in improving CDC
infrastructure using funding from the Facilities, Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM)
accounts within the Operation and Maintenance title. For FY2023, the minimum investment required for
each service is to be 1% of the estimated total replacement cost of all CDC facilities across the service.
The final bill amends Section 2876 of the House bill that called for a five-year investment effort. The
House bill’s provision would have required the services to set aside FSRM money to fund improvement
projects equal to or greater in value than
1% of total replacement costs for FY2023.
2% of total replacement costs for FY2024.
3% of total replacement costs for FY2025.
5% of total replacement costs for FY2026.
The House Armed Services Committee Report to accompany H.R.7900 also directed DOD to provide a
report detailing FSRM spending on CDCs over the past five years.
Author Information
Kristy N. Kamarck
Andrew Tilghman
Specialist in Military Manpower
Analyst in U.S. Defense Infrastructure Policy
Disclaimer
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