48K NY Military Families to Receive Child Care Fee Help

More than 48,000 New York State military families will now be able to receive child care fee assistance that covers 15,000 state-licensed child care providers. The military fee assistance will offset the cost of child care not covered by the parent fee as calculated by their total family income up to a maximum child care rate of $1800 per month per child. New York State has been selected as the first state approved to qualify licensed/registered child care providers for participation in this federal military fee assistance program. Child care providers licensed by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services will be eligible to participate and receive fee assistance on behalf of a military family under the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS program offered by the U.S. Department of Defense.

“While the costs of child care continue to rise beyond what many families can afford, providing high-quality, accessible, and low-cost care choices for New York families is vital. That commitment extends to our military families,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. This summer, we announced that tech giant Micron will develop on-site childcare for 50,000 new employees helping build semiconductors, and today we announce that 48,000 New York military families will now receive additional child care fee assistance covering 15,000 providers statewide.”

The Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS (MCCYN-PLUS) program was created more than 15 years ago to offer assistance to reduce the out-of-pocket expense for military families using community child care providers. However, under MCCYN, the child care providers must be nationally accredited, and this sometimes means families have limited choices. The military fee assistance will offset the cost of child care not covered by the parent fee as calculated by their total family income up to a maximum child care rate of $1800 per month per child. Military families can search for and select an approved child care provider through the DOD’s request-for-care website MilitaryChildCare.com.