“Every drill weekend, Air Force Reservists across the country face the same problem: where to find child care for their kids. Amid a nationwide provider shortage, finding child care for drill weekends is even more difficult than during weekdays.”
“The Air Force runs a Home Community Care (HCC) program where individuals provide child care for Reservists and Air National Guardsmen on weekends, but those providers are often few and far between.
“ ‘If we wanted to drop our son off [with an HCC provider], we would have had to wake up at about 3:30, 4:00 in the morning to be able to leave the house on time, drop him off, and then get to work,’ said 1st Lt. Marjorie Schurr, whose husband is also an Air Force Reservist. ‘That just wasn’t feasible, and we wouldn’t have gotten home until 6:30 at night.’ ”
“New pilot programs at Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pa., and Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., may serve as a template for providing low-cost, accessible, and reliable child care for the rest of the Air Force Reserves, and possibly for Reserve components across the military.”
“At Pittsburgh, the 911th Airlift Wing found a civilian provider close to the base that could stay open on weekends. Building trust between the provider and the families involved was a key part of the process.”
“Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., found similar success after a former HCC provider opened her own child care center that caters to Reservists. It’s about a 25-minute drive from the base, but the feedback has been great so far, said Angela Pedersen, military and family readiness director for Dobbins’ 94th Airlift Wing.”
— “How the Air Force Reserve Is Trying To Fix Its Child Care Access Problem,” by David Roza, Air & Space Forces Magazine, November 4, 2024