Title: ACCESS Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Availability of Child Care for Every Servicemember and Spouse Act or ACCESS Act
This bill declares that the hours of operation of each childcare development center of the Department of Defense shall, to the extent practicable, be set and maintained in a manner that takes into account the demands and circumstances of members of the Armed Forces who use such center to facilitate the performance of their military duties.
Each military department must: (1) provide for a childcare coordinator at each military installation at which are stationed significant numbers of members of the Armed Forces with accompanying dependent children, and (2) carry out a pilot program on collaboration between commanders of such military installations with private providers of childcare services.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1434 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Availability of Child Care for Every 
Servicemember and Spouse Act'' or ``ACCESS Act''.

SEC. 2. HOURS OF OPERATION OF CHILDCARE DEVELOPMENT CENTERS OF THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

    (a) In General.--The hours of operation of each childcare 
development center (CDC) of the Department of Defense shall, to the 
extent practicable, be set and maintained in a manner that takes into 
account the demands and circumstances of members of the Armed Forces, 
including members of the reserve components, who use such center in 
facilitation of the performance of their military duties.
    (b) Matters To Be Taken Into Account.--The demands and 
circumstances to be taken into account under subsection (a) for 
purposes of setting and maintaining the hours of operation of a 
childcare development center shall include the following:
            (1) Mission requirements of units whose members use such 
        center.
            (2) The unpredictability of work schedules, and 
        fluctuations in day-to-day work hours, of such members.
            (3) The potential for frequent and prolonged absences of 
        such members for training, operations, and deployments.
            (4) The location of such center on the military 
        installation concerned, including the location in connection 
        with duty locations of members and applicable military family 
        housing.
            (5) The geographic separation of such members from their 
        extended family.
            (6) The extent to which spouses of such members are 
        employed or pursuing educational opportunities, whether on a 
        full-time basis or a part-time basis.
            (7) Such other matters as the Secretary of the military 
        department concerned considers appropriate for purposes of this 
        section.

SEC. 3. CHILDCARE COORDINATORS FOR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.

    (a) Childcare Coordinators.--Each Secretary of a military 
department shall provide for a childcare coordinator at each military 
installation under the jurisdiction of such Secretary at which are 
stationed significant numbers of members of the Armed Forces with 
accompanying dependent children, as determined by such Secretary.
    (b) Nature of Position.--The childcare coordinator for a military 
installation may be an individual appointed to that position on full-
time or part-time basis or an individual appointed to another position 
whose duties in such other position are consistent with the discharge 
by the person of the duties of childcare coordinator.
    (c) Duties.--Each childcare coordinator for an installation shall 
carry out the duties as follows:
            (1) Act as an advocate for military families at the 
        installation on childcare matters both on-installation and off-
        installation.
            (2) Work with the commander of the installation in order to 
        seek to ensure that the childcare development centers at the 
        installation, together with any other available childcare 
        options on or in the vicinity of the installation--
                    (A) provide a quality of care (including a 
                caregiver-to-child ratio) commensurate with best 
                practices of private providers of childcare services; 
                and
                    (B) are responsive to the childcare needs of 
                members stationed at the installation and their 
                families.
            (3) Work with private providers of childcare services in 
        the vicinity of the installation in order to--
                    (A) track vacancies in the childcare facilities of 
                such providers;
                    (B) seek to obtain favorable prices for the use of 
                such services by members stationed at the installation; 
                and
                    (C) otherwise ease the use of such services by such 
                members.
            (4) Such other duties as the Secretary of the military 
        department concerned shall specify.

SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM ON COLLABORATION BETWEEN INSTALLATION COMMANDERS 
              AND PRIVATE PROVIDERS OF CHILDCARE SERVICES IN THE 
              VICINITY OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS FOR ACCESS TO 
              CHILDCARE SERVICES.

    (a) Pilot Programs Required.--Each Secretary of a military 
department shall carry out a pilot program to assess the feasability 
and advisability of permitting commanders of military installations 
under the jurisdiction of such Secretary at which are stationed 
significant numbers of members of the Armed Forces with accompanying 
dependent children, as determined by such Secretary, to collaborate 
with private providers of childcare services in the vicinity of such 
installations to reserve for such members access to all or a portion of 
the childcare services of such providers.
    (b) Commencement.--The pilot programs required by this section 
shall be commenced not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (c) Military Installations.--Each pilot program under this section 
shall be carried out by the Secretary of the military department 
concerned at not less than four military installations described in 
subsection (a) that are selected by such Secretary for purposes of such 
pilot program.
    (d) Discharge of Collaboration.--The commander of a military 
installation participating in a pilot program under this section may 
conduct collaboration described in subsection (a) under the pilot 
program through one or more individuals designated by the commander for 
that purpose, including, in particular, the childcare coordinator for 
the military installation under section 3.
    (e) Reports.--Not later than one year after the commencement of a 
pilot program under this section, the Secretary of the military 
department concerned shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 
of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the pilot 
program. Each report on a pilot program shall include the following:
            (1) A description of the pilot program, including the 
        installations at which the pilot program was carried out and 
        the collaboration described in subsection (a) that occurred at 
        each such installation.
            (2) An assessment of the efficacy of the collaboration in 
        improving the satisfaction of military families with access to 
        childcare services.
            (3) An assessment of the pilot program by the commanders 
        and other leadership of the installations participating in the 
        pilot program.
            (4) An assessment of the feasability and advisability of 
        expanding the pilot program throughout the military department 
        concerned, including recommendations on modifications to the 
        authorities of the pilot program in order to make such 
        authorities suitable to a range of installations of the 
        military department or to tailor such authorities to particular 
        installations of the military department.
            (5) Any other matters such Secretary considers appropriate 
        in light of the pilot program.
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