Program to give S.C. military families some child care options
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A new effort will help ease a major burden for military families in South Carolina: finding affordable child care.
On Thursday, state leaders announced the launch of a new program called Military Childcare in Your Neighborhood Plus.
Through it, military and Department of Defense civilian families can receive financial assistance to help pay for child care when it’s not available on an installation – or if they don’t live near one.
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“As we meet with military installation commanders across the state, they routinely articulate the three issues of most concern to their families: quality of public-school education in this state, accessibility off-base to affordable housing, and finally accessibility to quality child care,” said Todd McCaffrey, head of the South Carolina Department of Veterans Affairs.
Military leaders say the latter challenge has put many families in tight spots: deciding whether to fork over more money to send their kids to child care centers off the installation, where they might have an easier time getting enrolled – or competing for limited space at centers on the installation.
“If the baby and the children are not happy, mom and daddy are not happy. If mom and daddy are not happy, the mission is not going to be accomplished. If the mission’s not going to be accomplished, then our United States’ strength, our security, is not going to be accomplished,” Gov. Henry McMaster said.
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The South Carolina Department of Social Services says this is an effort over a year in the making.
And it says at least 200 child care providers across the state are already eligible to take part – by having at least a B-plus rating in South Carolina’s quality child care rating system.
“DSS is proud to participate in a program we believe will not only significantly increase the availability of quality childcare programs for military families in our state, but also benefit our child care providers, most of whom are small-business operators in an industry sector that has faced financial hardships for many years,” said Michael Leach, South Carolina Department of Social Services director.
South Carolina now becomes the 15th state in the nation to take part in this program.
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