Office of Work-Life Programs : Family Child Care (FCC)

Who is Eligible for this Program?
The Family Child Care Program is available to the following members of Team Coast Guard to receive childcare:

• Active Duty, Reservists, Retirees and their dependents
• DoD Active Duty and Reservists
• Civil Service employees

(FCC Providers may only be Active Duty spouses/legal married partners.)

Purpose of Program
The Family Child Care Home Program has two purposes: to create a business opportunity for Coast Guard spouses/legal married partners and to provide safe and dependable child care for Team Coast Guard members.

Definitions
FCC is a cost effective neighborhood child care delivery system, which allows provision of childcare in a home environment which meets Coast Guard certification requirements for both program and facility. Coast Guard standards, in most states, are most stringent than State Licensing.

Program Confidentiality
Enrollment in a Coast Guard certified FCC home is an arrangement made between the parent and the FCC provider. Enrollment records are reviewed periodically by Coast Guard personnel responsible for assuring certification standards are met. Personal information is maintained by the provider in a secure location in the home and is not available to anyone other than the provider, certification action officer, and parent.

Services and Resources Available
The Health, Safety, and Work-Life (HSWL) Regional Practice Office can assist the parent by providing:

• List of Coast Guard certified FCC homes
• List of community based child care resources
• Parenting information
• Coast Guard subsidy information

Selected Health, Safety, and Work-Life (HSWL) Regional Practice Office can assist the FCC Provider Applicant by providing:

• Specialized training/on the job training opportunities
• CPR/first aid certification
• Lending locker equipment
• Parent referrals
• Marketing venues
• An employment opportunity

HSWL's growing list of locations with FCC providers include:

Sector New York/D1 - (718) 354-4404
Base Kodiak - (907) 487-5481
Sector Columbia River - (503) 861-6242
TRACEN Cape May - (609) 898-6384
Base Alameda - (510) 769-0831

Where space allows, newly assigned members may request assignment to CG owned family housing one bedroom larger than they are eligible for if their spouses want to participate in the FCC program.  Additionally, the CG Foundation (https://coastguardfoundation.org/spousegrant) is also funding grants to offset startup costs during a 2 year pilot at Base Kodiak, Training Center Cape May, Sector New York and Training Center Petaluma to cover startup costs for CG spouses wanting to start a new FCC business.  These initiatives expect to increase the number of FCC providers, as locations with FCC providers grows, we will update the above list.

Program References
The following reference provides details of the Family Child Program and the FCC certification process:

• Child Development Services Manual (Chapter 5 - Family Child Care) - COMDTINST M1754.15 (under revision)
• Family Child Care Handbook - A Guide For Family Child Care Providers
• Coast Guard Housing Manual - COMDTINST M11101.13F
• ALCOAST 126/13 - Mandatory Security Background Checks of Coast Guard Child Development Center (CDC) Employees and Family Child Care (FCC) Providers
• ALCOAST 347/13 (internet release not authorized) - Child Development Services Program Child Immunizations
• ACN 038/19 - In-home Family Childcare (FCC) Initiatives

Related Resources for the Provider

• ChildCare Aware of America - Dedicated to supporting prospective and current child care providers. Child Care Aware^® of America has partnerships, programs, and resources that are designed to help child care providers learn more about how to start a child care business, sustain their child care business, keep informed on current legislation and policies affecting young children, continue professional development and have access to hundreds of fun, learning activities to do with children in their care.
• National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) - NAFCC represents professional providers throughout the United States and in some cases on US Military bases located internationally. NAFCC is dedicated to promoting quality child care by strengthening the profession of family child care.
• Child Care Resource & Referral - Doing whatever it takes to make child care work for families and communities from within the community served.

Point of Contact
If you are unable to contact the Family Resource Specialist on your Regional Work-Life Staff, or need additional assistance beyond the information provided here, please contact the Headquarters Dependent Care Program Manager, Ms. Renee Podolec (202) 475-5160 or by email at renee.l.podolec@uscg.mil.