The ongoing realignment of U.S. forces from overseas
bases to stateside installations along with high
operational tempos are placing demands on the military
child care system, said Jan Witte, director of DoD’s
Office of Children and Youth. “We project the (child
care) needs as greater than what we’re offering at
this point,” she said. Consequently, the department
wants to “jump-start” its military child care programs
to provide more spaces for the children of active-duty
and Reserve Component service members. To partly
correct the shortfall, DoD is creating some 4,000 new
child care spaces through new construction and
procurement of modular buildings. The department also
is contracting with civilian centers off the
installations. In spite of those efforts, DoD still
faces an estimated additional shortage of 27,000 spaces.
