Rep. Cisneros Joins Bipartisan Letter Urging DoD to Close Child Care Gaps for Military Families
WASHINGTON, DC - Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) joined 35 of his colleagues in a bipartisan letter to the Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging the Department of Defense (DoD) to close child care gaps for military families. According to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, in light of COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures, approximately 1.2 million children under the age of thirteen in military families will now require child care. While the DoD has an extensive network of Child Development Centers that provide low cost and subsidized options for military families, approximately 18,000 military children remain on waitlists nationwide, a number which does not account for the surge of school age children that will require child care this fall. The letter specifically calls on DoD to work with community leaders, veteran service organizations, and state and local governments to develop and implement creative solutions and encourage creative scheduling and maximizing teleworking.
In the letter, the members wrote, “Many of these families have reached out to us asking for support in navigating this complex problem. Single military parents and dual military couples with children face added challenges given their essential roles at work and no additional help at home. Military-civilian couples fear the civilian spouse may be forced to quit their job to take care of their children, jeopardizing the financial stability of those families … We urge you to work with community leaders, veteran service organizations, and state and local governments to develop and implement creative solutions.”
This child care dilemma impacts the United States’ national security. According to DoD officials, the primary reason for providing child care services is to ensure and enhance force readiness by supporting “the mission readiness, retention, and morale of the total force during peacetime, overseas contingency operations, periods of force structure change, relocation of military units, base realignment and closure, and other emergency situations.” Additionally, research shows insufficient child care options for military families impacts readiness and retention decisions as those with newborns and pre-school-age children report they are likely to miss duty and leave the military due to inadequate child care.
Full text of the letter is available here.
The letter has broad support from military service groups and organizations including the Military Officers Association of America, National Military Family Association, Partners In PROMISE, Military Family Advisory Network, Blue Star Families, Service Women’s Action Network, Association of the United States Navy, United States Army Warrant Officers, TREA: The Enlisted Association, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
The letter to the DoD was signed by members from both sides of the aisle including U.S. Representatives Deb Haaland (NM-01), Mike Waltz (FL-06), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Jim McGovern (MA-03), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Michael Turner (OH-10), David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Robert J. Wittman (VA.-01), Mike Thompson (CA-05), Matt Gaetz (FL-01), John H. Rutherford (FL-04), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) Rick Larsen (WA-02), Jason Crow (CO-06), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Anthony Brindisi (NY-22), Austin Scott (GA-08), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Anthony G. Brown (MD-04), James R. Langevin (RI-02), Lois Frankel (FL-21), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Denny Heck (WA-10), and Seth Moulton (MA-06).
On July 23rd, Rep. Cisneros introduced the bipartisan Helping Child Care Providers Respond to the Coronavirus Public Health Emergency Act (H.R. 7720). This legislation would ensure child care providers can use federal funding authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to pay for costs associated with sanitization and other costs necessary to protect children and child care workers from COVID-19. On July 29th, it passed the House as part of the bipartisan Child Care is Essential Act.