Accessing affordable, quality care is essential to children’s well-being and parents’ peace of mind. Our military families are looking for safer, healthier environments for their children — so they can continue to serve our country. The New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Family Development (DFD) has partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to offer
Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN).
MCCYN provides fee assistance for eligible families who cannot access military-operated child care due to distance or waiting lists. With this fee assistance, a portion of child care costs are paid to offset the costs of community-based care. This makes it easier for families to afford quality child care from local community providers.
The DoD expanded the MCCYN program, creating MCCYN-PLUS, to bridge the gap in locations where military accredited care is unavailable. The MCCYN-PLUS initiative uses states’ Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, or QRIS, as an indicator of provider quality in lieu of national accreditation. In New Jersey, this means that provider is rated by
Grow NJ Kids. MCCYN-Plus broadens the pool of providers eligible to receive fee assistance, on behalf of military families.
MCCYN-PLUS provides authorized active-duty personnel, Reserve Component members and DoD civilian employees with assistance in locating, selecting and offsetting the cost of civilian child care when installation child care is not available or not a viable option.
MCCYN-PLUS Provider Requirements
To qualify for participation in MCCYN-PLUS, providers must meet the following minimum standards:
- Be state licensed;
- Participate in the state’s quality rating system, Grow NJ Kids, and have achieved the minimum rating as determined by the DoD; and
- Demonstrate continuous quality improvement until the provider can achieve the highest rating or accreditation.
Community providers interested in participating in the MCCYN-PLUS program can find more information
here.