II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1434 

To enhance the military childcare programs and activities of the Department 

of Defense, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2017 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To enhance the military childcare programs and activities 

of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Availability of Child 

5 Care for Every Servicemember and Spouse Act’’ or ‘‘AC6 CESS Act’’. 


rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1434 IS

1 SEC. 2. HOURS OF OPERATION OF CHILDCARE DEVELOP2 MENT CENTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DE3 FENSE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The hours of operation of each 

5 childcare development center (CDC) of the Department of 

6 Defense shall, to the extent practicable, be set and main7 tained in a manner that takes into account the demands 

8 and circumstances of members of the Armed Forces, in9 cluding members of the reserve components, who use such 

10 center in facilitation of the performance of their military 

11 duties. 

12 (b) MATTERS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The 

13 demands and circumstances to be taken into account 

14 under subsection (a) for purposes of setting and maintain15 ing the hours of operation of a childcare development cen16 ter shall include the following: 

17 (1) Mission requirements of units whose mem18 bers use such center. 

19 (2) The unpredictability of work schedules, and 

20 fluctuations in day-to-day work hours, of such mem21 bers. 

22 (3) The potential for frequent and prolonged 

23 absences of such members for training, operations, 

24 and deployments. 

25 (4) The location of such center on the military 

26 installation concerned, including the location in conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1434.IS S1434

rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1434 IS

1 nection with duty locations of members and applica2 ble military family housing. 

3 (5) The geographic separation of such members 

4 from their extended family. 

5 (6) The extent to which spouses of such mem6 bers are employed or pursuing educational opportu7 nities, whether on a full-time basis or a part-time 

8 basis. 

9 (7) Such other matters as the Secretary of the 

10 military department concerned considers appropriate 

11 for purposes of this section. 

12 SEC. 3. CHILDCARE COORDINATORS FOR MILITARY IN13 STALLATIONS. 

14 (a) CHILDCARE COORDINATORS.—Each Secretary of 

15 a military department shall provide for a childcare coordi16 nator at each military installation under the jurisdiction 

17 of such Secretary at which are stationed significant num18 bers of members of the Armed Forces with accompanying 

19 dependent children, as determined by such Secretary. 

20 (b) NATURE OF POSITION.—The childcare coordi21 nator for a military installation may be an individual ap22 pointed to that position on full-time or part-time basis or 

23 an individual appointed to another position whose duties 

24 in such other position are consistent with the discharge 

25 by the person of the duties of childcare coordinator. 


rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1434 IS

1 (c) DUTIES.—Each childcare coordinator for an in2 stallation shall carry out the duties as follows: 

3 (1) Act as an advocate for military families at 

4 the installation on childcare matters both on-instal5 lation and off-installation. 

6 (2) Work with the commander of the installa7 tion in order to seek to ensure that the childcare de8 velopment centers at the installation, together with 

9 any other available childcare options on or in the vi10 cinity of the installation— 

11 (A) provide a quality of care (including a 

12 caregiver-to-child ratio) commensurate with 

13 best practices of private providers of childcare 

14 services; and 

15 (B) are responsive to the childcare needs 

16 of members stationed at the installation and 

17 their families. 

18 (3) Work with private providers of childcare 

19 services in the vicinity of the installation in order 

20 to— 

21 (A) track vacancies in the childcare facili22 ties of such providers; 

23 (B) seek to obtain favorable prices for the 

24 use of such services by members stationed at 

25 the installation; and 


rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1434 IS

1 (C) otherwise ease the use of such services 

2 by such members. 

3 (4) Such other duties as the Secretary of the 

4 military department concerned shall specify. 

5 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM ON COLLABORATION BETWEEN 

6 INSTALLATION COMMANDERS AND PRIVATE 

7 PROVIDERS OF CHILDCARE SERVICES IN THE 

8 VICINITY OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS FOR 

9 ACCESS TO CHILDCARE SERVICES. 

10 (a) PILOT PROGRAMS REQUIRED.—Each Secretary 

11 of a military department shall carry out a pilot program 

12 to assess the feasability and advisability of permitting 

13 commanders of military installations under the jurisdic14 tion of such Secretary at which are stationed significant 

15 numbers of members of the Armed Forces with accom16 panying dependent children, as determined by such Sec17 retary, to collaborate with private providers of childcare 

18 services in the vicinity of such installations to reserve for 

19 such members access to all or a portion of the childcare 

20 services of such providers. 

21 (b) COMMENCEMENT.—The pilot programs required 

22 by this section shall be commenced not later than 180 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

24 (c) MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.—Each pilot program 

25 under this section shall be carried out by the Secretary 


rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1434 IS

1 of the military department concerned at not less than four 

2 military installations described in subsection (a) that are 

3 selected by such Secretary for purposes of such pilot pro4 gram. 

5 (d) DISCHARGE OF COLLABORATION.—The com6 mander of a military installation participating in a pilot 

7 program under this section may conduct collaboration de8 scribed in subsection (a) under the pilot program through 

9 one or more individuals designated by the commander for 

10 that purpose, including, in particular, the childcare coordi11 nator for the military installation under section 3. 

12 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than one year after the 

13 commencement of a pilot program under this section, the 

14 Secretary of the military department concerned shall sub15 mit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate 

16 and the House of Representatives a report on the pilot 

17 program. Each report on a pilot program shall include the 

18 following: 

19 (1) A description of the pilot program, includ20 ing the installations at which the pilot program was 

21 carried out and the collaboration described in sub22 section (a) that occurred at each such installation. 

23 (2) An assessment of the efficacy of the collabo24 ration in improving the satisfaction of military fami25 lies with access to childcare services. 


rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1434 IS

1 (3) An assessment of the pilot program by the 

2 commanders and other leadership of the installations 

3 participating in the pilot program. 

4 (4) An assessment of the feasability and advis5 ability of expanding the pilot program throughout 

6 the military department concerned, including rec7 ommendations on modifications to the authorities of 

8 the pilot program in order to make such authorities 

9 suitable to a range of installations of the military de10 partment or to tailor such authorities to particular 

11 installations of the military department. 

12 (5) Any other matters such Secretary considers 

13 appropriate in light of the pilot program. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS