Pilot Program to Cover Certain Child Care Costs After Permanent Change of Station Move

This week the Department of Defense kicks off a three-year pilot program meant to reimburse service members up to $1,500 for travel-related expenses incurred for a temporary child care provider following a permanent change of station move. 

When an active duty service member makes a permanent change of station move to a new duty location and finds that child care at the local child development center won't be available within 30 days of their report date, they can hire their own provider, typically a relative or family friend, and then later file for reimbursement of transportation-related expenses. 

The process begins with a service member visiting the military child care website to apply for child care at their new duty location, said Christopher Woods, chief of the policy branch within the Defense Travel Management Office. 

"If the scheduling shows that care could not be provided within 30 days of the member's report date, then the member would become eligible to bring a child care provider to their permanent duty station to look after the child while the member reports to work and their spouse begins to do all those things like unpacking or finding their next job," Woods said. 

The military child care website is the DOD's official tool to sign up for child care. When the program begins in October, the website will provide instructions to affected service members and generate the necessary forms that allow service members to obtain the needed child care.  

"What would happen at that point is the member takes that documentation that they have from MilitaryChildCare.com... and they begin to coordinate with their local travel office to treat that child care provider much like they would treat a dependent to begin to make the commercial travel reservations," he said. 

Reimbursement is limited to commercial transportation expenses, including flights, rail tickets, transportation to or from an airport and an en route and departure rental car. Reimbursement for privately owned vehicle mileage is not authorized, while reimbursement for fuel used in a privately owned vehicle is. 

For a permanent change of station move between locations within the continental United States, reimbursement is limited to $500. For a move to or from a duty station outside the continental United States, the reimbursement is limited to $1,500. 

Typically, a child care provider in these situations would be a relative or family friend, Woods said. But it could also be an au pair, for instance. But Woods also said that reimbursement is for transportation only - both at the start of the period needed for child care and at the end, to send the child care provider home. There is no reimbursement to pay a child care provider a salary or to provide for room and board. 

As part of the program, only one child care provider is authorized per military family, and only one service member in a military-to-military couple can request reimbursement. 

The pilot program, which lasts three years and runs Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2027, comes after direction by Congress in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, Woods said. 

While the program is active, said Heidi E. Welch, the associate director for child and youth programs operations, it's expected to relieve a burden on military families. 

"Coming from the child care perspective, this is going to help families, so they have less strain," Welch said. "PCSing is a challenge and it's very difficult. I think this is going to relieve some of the strain and burden that families have as they're making those PCS transitions."