Haaland, Waltz Urge Department of Defense to Close Child Care Gaps for Military Families
Albuquerque, N.M. – This week, Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01) and Congressman Mike Waltz (Fla.-06) sent 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 the 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 encourages creative scheduling and maximizing teleworking.
In the letter, Haaland, Waltz, and 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 also signed by members from both sides of the aisle including U.S. Representatives Jackie Speier (Calif.-14), Jim McGovern (Mass.-02), Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.-02), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.-21), Cheri Bustos (Ill.-17), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio-09), Gil R. Cisneros Jr. (Calif.-39), Gerry Connolly (Vir.-11), Michael Turner (Ohio-10), David N. Cicilline (R.I.-01), Xochitl Torres Small (N.M.-02), Henry Cuellar (Tex.-28), Donald Norcross (N.J.-01), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.-02), Robert J. Wittman (Vir.-01), Mike Thompson (Calif.-05), Matt Gaetz (Fla.-01), John H. Rutherford (Fla.-04), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.-08) Rick Larsen (Wash.-02), Jason Crow (Colo.-06), Derek Kilmer (Wash.-06), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.-07), Anthony Brindisi (N.Y.-22), Austin Scott (Ga.-08), Tony Cárdenas (Calif.-29), Chrissy Houlahan (Penn.-06), Anthony G. Brown (Md.-04), James R. Langevin (R.I.-02), Lois Frankel (Fla.-21), Ro Khanna (Calif.-17), Denny Heck (Wash.-10), Seth Moulton (Mass.-06).
As the daughter of veterans, Haaland is a staunch advocate for military families. In 2019 she led the charge to hold military housing contractors accountable for unsafe housing conditions and introduced the Military Housing Oversight and Service Member Protection Act which was later included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019. During the coronavirus pandemic, military families impacted by financial burdens caused by the DoD Stop Movement order reached out to Haaland, and she demanded the DoD set clear guidance for those families and included provisions in the Heroes Act of 2020 to protect those families.