Marines who live at least 15 miles from their duty station soon will see an increase in their off-base child care subsidy.
While budgetary pressure has forced the Marine Corps to reduce on-base child care services, officials have managed to expand the assistance it offers families who commute some distance to work.
Under a set of new rules, announced Nov. 4 in Marine administrative message 570/14, eligible families who pay the weekly Defense Department child care fee will be supplemented up to $900 per month to cover services from off-base providers. The DoD fee is tiered based on overall family income. Families whose monthly child care costs exceed $900 must pay the difference.
So for example, if an off-base child care provider charges $900 per month, and a Marine family earns $31,000 per year, the family would be responsible for paying only the DoD fee of about $288 per month. The government would cover the remaining $612.
However, in that same scenario, if the child care provider charges $950 per month, which is $50 more than what the service considers fair market value, then the Marine family would be responsible for paying $338 — the $288 DoD rate plus the $50 difference.
To be eligible, Marines must live at least 15 miles from base, an important change implemented last year that cut the required distance by half. Additionally, Marines are clear now to use state-licensed child development programs instead of nationally accredited programs, as once required. And those with multiple children now get equal funding for all.
"The Marine Corps has opted to reduce the restrictions because off-base fee assistance is a cost-effective alternative [that continues] to meet child care needs of our Marines close to where they live," Marine and Family Programs Division officials said last year when eligibility was expanded.
Marine Corps child care programs were set for a $13 million funding cut, but officials said families won't see a drastic change in services offered.
"In order to reach this $13 million reduction, we have worked with [base child care officials] to find efficiencies rather than cut services," Tom Goben, family care branch head at Marine Corps headquarters, told Marine Corps Times over the summer.
Some remain skeptical, however.
"I'm not sure how they can reduce funding to [child day care centers] without it affecting services to families," said Eileen Huck, government relations deputy director for the National Military Family Association. "Either they will eliminate part-time and drop-in care, which many families rely on, or they will cut hours, making the CDC less accessible to Marines who work long hours."
In September, Brig. Gen. Russell Sanborn, commanding general of Marine and Family Programs Division, insisted that cuts were not being made without foresight. He said studies were carefully carried out to determine how costs could be cut with minimal impact on services offered.
"At the height of combat," Sanborn said, "lots of money was available for programs, and there were many opportunities to take care of our Marines and their families."
But now that the Corps' combat mission in Afghanistan has ended, belt tightening is the new reality. Sanborn said his job is to ensure Marines are combat ready. And that means ensuring their families are cared for. To do that, he has had to evaluate which programs are effective and necessary — and which programs are not.
That review included other services like base gyms. Gyms could close or run with fewer staff during off-peak hours to save money without inconveniencing most Marines. Some 24-hour gyms might have none or few Marines and dependents using them late at night, for example.
The same applies to child care centers. Some hours could be trimmed when they would have the least impact on the number of users. Or staff could be scheduled to save on manpower costs.
Goben led efforts to visit each child care center across the Corps to identify areas where money could be saved. When he and his team arrived, many of the centers were "standoff-ish" he said. But by the time he departed, they were in agreement about how the centers could be run better. Often that meant just being smarter about when staff were scheduled to work based on customer demand.
For full details on child care assistance eligibility, Marines should visit www.naccrra.org/military-families/marine-corps.
Staff writer Karen Jowers contributed to this report.
