Straight Talk: Base child care fees

  • Published
  • By Col. Roman L. Hund

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- For those who have submitted questions through Straight Talk recently, in the coming weeks I will address a sampling of those questions here. If you have a question and are not sure where to find the answer, I encourage you to contact the Straight Talk line at 781-225-1380 or by email at Hanscom.straightalk@us.af.mil.  

 

Q I am writing as a parent and service member to express my frustration with the affordability of child care on base, and the policies at clubhouse that are unsupportive and financially straining to military families.

 

I am an E5 with two children who attend Clubhouse. They have not been to Clubhouse since the week before school ended, but owe nearly $600 for summer care and field trips they did not get or participate in. As an E5, this bill is devastating to my family - but the Clubhouse has a policy that holds parents accountable for paying for care they do not receive.

 

For summer camp, we had to fill out a paper in March stating which days our children would attend camp. We had until June 3 to make any changes, then our weeks were set in stone and we are obligated to pay regardless of changing work schedules, duty, or personal plans. We are financially punished and strained for not knowing months ahead a time when we will need care, or when an opportunity to visit our far-away family will come up. 

 

During the school year, we are expected to pay for care on snow days and federal holidays when the center is closed. Often on these days, we still stand duty and work - resulting in paying not only clubhouse for NOT watching our children, but then also someone else to watch them. 

 

When we try to discuss with the staff, they lay out the policy and there is no discussion. The sacrifice and strain on the family is not considered. I truly appreciate the care they give my children, however, I am respectfully requesting the policy be considered for revision so parents do not have to pay for care they do not receive.

 

A Child care fees and payment policies are mandated by the Department of Defense for all Military Child Care Centers and not established locally. Fees are based on total family income (TFI) and apply to all children who attend on a regular basis. Fees for full-day care for school-age children (i.e. summer, teacher workdays and inclement weather) use the TFI hourly rate and the hours of operation and length of the program.

 

Caring for children is an expensive service because it is labor intensive. More than 50 percent of the total cost of providing child care, and 95 percent of the cost paid by parents, is for caregivers’ wages. Parents must pay for the child-care space even if their child is not present because the program's costs of making that space available -- whether it is used or not -- does not decrease. Having children absent does not decrease the number (and cost) of staff in the room. This also applies to federal holidays and other closures as the caregivers are entitled to receive full pay under their respective federal pay systems. 

 

The School Age Summer Program establishes a period of time that enrolled parents can select the weeks their children will attend during the summer. This provides families with priority enrollment and affordability because it allows parents to be charged for the number of weeks they plan to use during the summer. The Clubhouse sets this policy so it can arrange to fill open spaces, essentially subletting enrollment spaces to those who are not full-time enrollees. The policy enables the program not to charge parents for the weeks they will not attend while maintaining full-time enrollment status for the upcoming school year. In March, the families enrolled during the school year had a registration period to register for the weeks in the summer their children would be attending; the registration period was open until June 3.   

 

Unfortunately, the program was unable to grant a requested change because it came after the deadline and there were no families available to sublet. The program makes every effort to sublet spaces. Most times, once summer begins, finding a family to fill openings becomes very difficult, as in most cases, families have already found summer care. As stated above, the cost to the program does not decrease once enrollment numbers are established. 

 

There are two exceptions to the DOD policies that can be made at the installation level. First, the youth program director, on a case-by-case basis, can waive fees for circumstances outside the family’s control, such as sudden deployments or family emergencies. The second exception is a financial hardship waiver. The installation commander may adjust a family’s child care fees based on financial hardship, such as loss of employment, sudden and unexpected illness or accident, property damage not covered by insurance and extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances. Waivers are done on a case-by-case basis.

 

Airman and Family Readiness Centers offer information, education and personal financial counseling to help individuals and families maintain financial readiness and build resiliency. Families in need of a fee reduction must provide a personal financial analysis done by the A&FRC and a letter from their commander, first sergeant or supervisor.

 

I hope I have addressed your concerns.  For a detailed review of child care fees, contact Colleen Davis, Youth Programs director, at 781-225-6043 or by email at Colleen.Davis@us.af.mil.