A pilot program beginning next month will provide free child care to National Guard during weekend drills in six states, Military.com reports.
The program will extend free child care — a benefit the Army's 400,000 other parents receive — to Guardsmen who do not have access to on-base options.
The move comes as the Army grapples with a recruitment and retention crisis and as the National Guard is increasingly activated for a variety of domestic missions.
According to a memo obtained by Military.com, the pilot program will be open to National Guard members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia and Washington with children ages 6 weeks to 12-years who do not have child care during drill weekends.
Enrollment is expected to open Sept. 1, with child care beginning in November for drills, the memo read.
In the memo, the director of manpower and personnel, Maj. Gen. Eric Little, framed the program as a way to boost retention rates, writing that a "lack of weekend drill child care is impacting soldier retention."
A spokesperson for the National Guard Bureau confirmed the memo's authenticity, but could not provide information on other aspects of the pilot program, such as anticipated cost and duration.
To qualify for the program, Guardsmen must be in good standing, including "prescribed uniform, neat and soldierly appearance, and satisfactory performance of assigned duties as determined by the unit commander," and commanders must determine that there is no other adult in the household who could provide child care, according to the memo.
Guard members can be denied benefits if they don't meet fitness standards or have committed a crime, but because appearance is a subjective standard, obtaining the child care benefit would hinge largely on the discretion of commanders.
Child Care Aware of America, which provides similar services to active-duty families, will handle enrollment and placement, according to the memo.
Although Guardsmen will need to re-register each month they need child care, commanders are only required to verify eligibility every three months.
Funding for the program will be managed by the National Guard Bureau.
The memo leaves open the possibility that the pilot could be expanded to other states after the first year depending on the Army National Guard's assessment of "long-term affordability, accessibility, scalability, feasibility and utilization," as well as funding availability.
According to the 2021 Military Family Support Programming Survey, child care is a top concern for military families, with more than 78% of respondents reporting it was very difficult or difficult to find child care in the past two years.
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