Helping Ensure Reliable Opportunities in Child Care for Military Families Act
Sponsored By: Representative Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]
Introduced
Summary
Expand and stabilize military child care. This bill would broaden who can work in Department of Defense child development centers and add rules and data tools to recruit, screen, and manage child care capacity across the military.
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- Families: Would expand the pool of child care providers by removing a prior service requirement and by allowing national service volunteers who meet training and hiring rules to serve in military child development centers. Would require tracking demand by age, including children under age 5, and a report on waitlists within 90 days.
- Workers: Would create preclearance background checks, including Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint and State checks, with preclearance valid up to one year and annual reverification. Would authorize voluntary job-sharing with each part-timer working at least 20 hours per week and allow limited benefits like commissary and exchange access, MWR facility use, tuition assistance, and referral bonuses to aid recruitment and retention.
- Department of Defense and readiness: Would establish a unified, Department-wide child care readiness data system updated at least every 90 days with data on capacity, staffing, vacancies, waitlists, utilization, fee-assistance use, and geographic gaps. Would require briefings to congressional defense committees within 180 days and annually and a 180-day report analyzing how child care availability affects readiness, retention, dual-military families, high operational-tempo units, and military spouse workforce participation.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Make it easier to hire and keep staff
This bill would make it easier to recruit and retain child care staff at military child development centers. It would remove a prior-service requirement so more people and businesses could qualify as DoD child care providers. DoD could place national service volunteers in centers if they are trained and meet hiring rules. The Under Secretary must set rules by June 1, 2027 to allow preclearance (FBI fingerprint and state criminal checks plus a health screening) that can be valid up to one year and must be reverified annually. The Secretary could allow voluntary job-sharing where two part-time workers split one full-time job and each works at least 20 hours per week. The Secretary could also authorize limited benefits for child care employees (commissary/exchange access on work days, MWR/fitness use, tuition assistance, referral bonuses) with guidance due within 180 days; benefits would be nontransferable and revocable.
DoD child care data system
This bill would require the Secretary of Defense to build a department-wide child care readiness data system. The system would track capacity and utilization by installation and region; staffing levels, vacancies, turnover, and pay ranges; waitlists split into families with no access, families using temporary or off-installation care, and families needing nontraditional hours; demand by age including under age 5; fee assistance use and attrition; and areas with persistent need. Data must be standardized across military departments and updated at least every 90 days. The Secretary must brief the Armed Services Committees within 180 days of enactment and annually after that on findings, actions to close gaps, and funding or authority needs.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]
VA • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51]
CA • D
Sponsored 4/16/2026
Rep. Hinson, Ashley [R-IA-2]
IA • R
Sponsored 4/29/2026
Rep. Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1]
NH • D
Sponsored 4/29/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov