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Buckley families stay mission ready

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Codie Collins

“Whether military or civilian, parents are more successful in preforming their job knowing their children are well taken care of when they’re at work,” said Vanessa Dyer, A Basin Child Development Center assistant chief.

Buckley Air Force Base ensures service members of all branches stay mission ready by providing child care through the CDC and Air Force Family Child Care.

The CDC offers families hourly and full day child care. The staff supports the development of children by providing active, hands on learning experiences to meet the individual needs of each child in the program. To encourage growth and ensure activities are developmentally appropriate, children are observed on a regular basis and then use this assessment in planning related activities.  Parents and staff work together to set goals for each child based on their strengths, progress and needs.

The FCC is an alternative to the CDC for families that need evening care, weekend care, care for children with special needs, infants, school-age children and care during swing and midnight shifts. Care is provided by trained and qualified spouses of military members for children ages two weeks to 12 years of age in their affiliated on and off-base homes. These trained professionals are allowed to care for up to six children, with no more than two under the age of two years old.

“The staff in both the CDC and FCC go through extensive training,” said Lorrie Heller, FCC chief. “All caregivers are required to uphold a certain standard.”

All FCC Providers are considered privatized contractors and have the ability to set their own rates, hours and choice of customers. They work under Department of Defense components and are regularly screened, trained and monitored by the Air Force.

“These childcare programs are mission essential,” Heller said. “Service members need to focus on the mission. They’re not going to be able to do that when they are worried about the care of their children. The CDC and FCC programs relieve them of that stress.” 

To register your child for the CDC or FCC, visit MilitaryChildCare.com. This site allows families to search for and request care from a wide range of military operated and military subsidized child care options across all services.