Military Child Care Expansion Act of 2021

To expand child care opportunities for members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Military Child Care Expansion Act of 2021 2. Expansion of pilot program to provide financial assistance to members of the Armed Forces for in-home child care Section 589 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 ( Public Law 116–283 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— (A) by striking Secretary shall— private sector; and Secretary shall take into consideration qualifications for in-home child care providers in the private sector. (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following: The Secretary of Defense may expand the pilot program to additional locations. 3. Pilot program to expand access to child care to the Department of Defense (a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a pilot program to expand access to child care for members of the Armed Forces by entering into agreements with public or private child care facilities or development centers. (b) Scope In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall— (1) seek to enter into one or more memoranda of understanding with one or more eligible civilian child care centers or facilities to reserve slots for qualified families in locations in which— (A) the Department of Defense lacks a child development center; or (B) the wait lists for the nearest Department of Defense child development center, where applicable, indicate that qualified families may not be accommodated; and (2) select five locations that the Secretary determines have the greatest unmet demand for child care services for children of members of the Armed Forces, including at least one facility in each location that offers extended or flexible hours to provide care after hours and on weekends. (c) Annual assessment of results Not later than one year after establishing the pilot program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall undertake a current assessment of the impact of the pilot program on access to childcare facilities or child development centers for qualified families. (d) Reports (1) Interim reports Not later than one year after the Secretary establishes the pilot program and twice annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives an interim report on the pilot program. Each interim report shall include the following elements: (A) The number of military families participating in the pilot program, disaggregated by location and duration of participation. (B) A breakdown of the total cost, including any subsidies or financial assistance, charged by the childcare facility or child development center. (C) The impact of the program on wait times at Department of Defense child care development centers. (D) The feasibility of expanding the pilot program. (E) Recommendations for legislation or administrative actions that the Secretary determines necessary to make the pilot program permanent. (F) Any other information the Secretary determines appropriate. (2) Final report Not later than 90 days after the termination of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a final report on the pilot program. The report shall include the following elements: (A) The elements specified in paragraph (1). (B) The recommendation of the Secretary whether to make the pilot program permanent. (e) Expansion Based on the recommendations included in the interim reports, the Secretary may expand the scope of the pilot program to include more than five locations if the Secretary determines access to childcare is improved and such expansion would likely benefit Department of Defense families. (f) Termination The pilot program shall terminate 10 years after the date on which the Secretary establishes the pilot program. (g) Eligible civilian child care center or facility defined In this section, the term eligible civilian child care center or facility eligible provider 4. Determination of causes of poor or failing conditions at child development centers of Department of Defense and costs to improve such conditions (a) Determinations (1) In general The Secretary of Defense shall determine— (A) the root causes contributing to poor or failing facility conditions at child development centers of the Department of Defense; and (B) the total cost to improve the facility conditions of such centers to at least fair condition, as determined by the Secretary. (2) Report Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the determinations of the Secretary under paragraph (1). (b) Comptroller General review and recommendations Not later than one year after the date on which the Secretary submits to Congress the report under subsection (a)(2) on the determinations of the Secretary under subsection (a)(1), the Comptroller General of the United States shall— (1) review such determinations; and (2) submit to the Secretary and Congress recommendations on how to improve the facility conditions at child development centers of the Department. 5. Temporary program to use minor military construction authority for construction of child development centers (a) Thresholds on construction authorized The Secretary of Defense shall establish a program to carry out minor military construction projects under section 2805 of title 10, United States Code, to construct child development centers. (b) Increased maximum amounts applicable to minor construction projects For the purpose of any military construction project carried out under the program under this section, the amounts specified in section 2805 of title 10, United States Code, are modified as follows: (1) The amount specified in subsection (a)(2) of such section is deemed to be $25,000,000. (2) The amount specified in subsection (c) of such section is deemed to be $25,000,000. (c) Notification and approval requirements (1) In general The notification and approval requirements under section 2805(b) of title 10, United States Code, shall remain in effect for construction projects carried out under the program under this section. (2) Procedures The Secretary shall establish procedures for the review and approval of requests from the Secretaries of military departments to carry out construction projects under the program under this section. (d) Report required (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the program under this section. (2) Elements The report required by paragraph (1) shall include a list and description of the construction projects carried out under the program under this section, including the location and cost of each project. (e) Expiration of authority The authority to carry out a minor military construction project under the program under this section expires on the date that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. (f) Construction of authority Nothing in this section may be construed to limit any other authority provided by law for a military construction project at a child development center. (g) Definitions In this section: (1) The term child development center (2) The term congressional defense committees

Summary: Military Child Care Expansion Act of 2021 This bill modifies and implements policies to update child care facilities and administration at the Department of Defense (DOD). Specifically, the bill removes certain requirements for members of the Armed Forces to receive funding for an in-home child care provider under the DOD pilot program that provides financial assistance to such members who pay for in-home child care. The bill also allows DOD to expand the pilot program to additional locations (currently it is authorized for five). DOD must establish a 10-year pilot program to expand access to child care for members of the Armed Forces by entering into agreements with public or private child care facilities or development centers. Under the bill, DOD must determine the (1) root causes contributing to poor or failing facility conditions at its child development centers, and (2) total cost to improve the conditions of such centers. The Government Accountability Office must review the determinations and make recommendations on how to improve DOD child development center conditions. Lastly, DOD must utilize its existing authority to carry out minor military construction projects to construct child development centers.