10 U.S.C. § 1796 — Subsidies for family home day care

Page 1622 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1794 § 1794. Child abuse prevention and safety at fa- cilities (a) CHILD ABUSE TASK FORCE.—The Secretary of Defense shall maintain a special task force to respond to allegations of widespread child abuse at a military installation. The task force shall be composed of personnel from appropriate dis- ciplines, including, where appropriate, medicine, psychology, and childhood development. In the case of such allegations, the task force shall provide assistance to the commander of the in- stallation, and to parents at the installation, in helping them to deal with such allegations. (b) NATIONAL HOTLINE.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall maintain a national telephone number for persons to use to report suspected child abuse or safety violations at a military child development center or family home day care site. The Secretary shall ensure that such reports may be made anonymously if so desired by the person making the report. The Secretary shall establish procedures for following up on complaints and information received over that number. (2) The Secretary shall publicize the existence of the number by means including— (A) posting it in public areas of military child development centers; and (B) providing it to the parents and legal guardians of children who attend military child development centers. (c) ASSISTANCE FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES.— The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regula- tions requiring that, in a case of allegations of child abuse at a military child development cen- ter or family home day care site, the com- mander of the military installation or the head of the task force established under subsection (a) shall seek the assistance of local child pro- tective authorities if such assistance is avail- able. (d) SAFETY REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations on safety and operating procedures at military child de- velopment centers. Those regulations shall apply uniformly among the military depart- ments. (e) INSPECTIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall require that each military child develop- ment center be inspected not less often than four times a year. Each such inspection shall be unannounced. At least one inspection a year shall be carried out by a representative of the installation served by the center, and one in- spection a year shall be carried out by a rep- resentative of the major command under which that installation operates. (f) REMEDIES FOR VIOLATIONS.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any violation of a safety, health, or child welfare law or regulation (discovered at an inspection or otherwise) at a military child development center shall be rem- edied immediately. (2) In the case of a violation that is not life threatening, the commander of the major com- mand under which the installation concerned operates may waive the requirement that the violation be remedied immediately for a period of up to 90 days beginning on the date of the dis- covery of the violation. If the violation is not remedied as of the end of that 90-day period, the military child development center shall be closed until the violation is remedied. The Sec- retary of the military department concerned may waive the preceding sentence and authorize the center to remain open in a case in which the violation cannot reasonably be remedied within that 90-day period or in which major facility re- construction is required. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 333; amended Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title V, § 584, Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 1912.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2024—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 118–159 substituted ‘‘num- ber by means including—’’ for ‘‘number.’’ and added subpars. (A) and (B). § 1795. Parent partnerships with child develop- ment centers (a) PARENT BOARDS.—The Secretary of Defense shall require that there be established at each military child development center a board of parents, to be composed of parents of children attending the center. The board shall meet peri- odically with staff of the center and the com- mander of the installation served by the center for the purpose of discussing problems and con- cerns. The board, together with the staff of the center, shall be responsible for coordinating the parent participation program described in sub- section (b). (b) PARENT PARTICIPATION PROGRAMS.—The Secretary of Defense shall require the establish- ment of a parent participation program at each military child development center. As part of such program, the Secretary of Defense may es- tablish fees for attendance of children at such a center, in the case of parents who participate in the parent participation program at that center, at rates lower than the rates that otherwise apply. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 334.) § 1796. Subsidies for family home day care The Secretary of Defense may use appro- priated funds available for military child care purposes to provide assistance to family home day care providers so that family home day care services can be provided to members of the armed forces at a cost comparable to the cost of services provided by military child development centers. The Secretary shall prescribe regula- tions for the provision of such assistance. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 334.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING TO A MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES WHOSE SPOUSE AGREES TO PROVIDE FAMILY HOME DAY CARE SERV- ICES Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VI, § 627, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3678, provided that: ‘‘(a) PRIORITY.—If the Secretary of a military depart- ment determines that not enough child care employees Page 1623 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1798 are employed at a military child development center on a military installation under the jurisdiction of that Secretary to adequately care for the children of mem- bers of the Armed Forces stationed at that military in- stallation, the Secretary, to the extent practicable, may give priority for covered military family housing to a member whose spouse is an eligible military spouse. ‘‘(b) NUMBER OF PRIORITY POSITIONS.—A Secretary of a military department may grant priority under sub- section (a) only to the minimum number of eligible military spouses that the Secretary determines nec- essary to provide adequate child care to the children of members stationed at a military installation described in subsection (a). ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section may be con- strued to require the Secretary of a military depart- ment to provide covered military family housing that has been adapted for disabled individuals to a member under this section instead of to a member with one more dependents enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program. ‘‘(d) RESULT OF FAILURE TO PROVIDE FAMILY HOME DAY CARE SERVICES OR LOSS OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Sec- retary of the military department concerned may re- move a household provided covered military family housing under this section therefrom if the Secretary determines the spouse of that member has failed to abide by an agreement described in subsection (e)(3) or has ceased to be an eligible military spouse. Such re- moval may not occur sooner than 60 days after the date of such determination. ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(1) The terms ‘child care employee’, ‘family home day care’, and ‘military child development center’ have the meanings given those terms in section 1800 of title 10, United States Code. ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered military family housing’ means military family housing— ‘‘(A) located on a military installation described in subsection (a); and ‘‘(B) that the Secretary of the military depart- ment concerned determines is large enough to pro- vide family home day care services to no fewer than six children (not including children in the house- hold of the eligible military spouse). ‘‘(3) The term ‘eligible military spouse’ means a military spouse who— ‘‘(A) is eligible for military family housing; ‘‘(B) is eligible to provide family home day care services; ‘‘(C) has provided family home day care services for at least one year; and ‘‘(D) agrees in writing to provide family home day care services in covered military family housing for a period not shorter than one year.’’ § 1797. Early childhood education program The Secretary of Defense shall require that all military child development centers meet stand- ards of operation necessary for accreditation by an appropriate national early childhood pro- grams accrediting body. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 335.) § 1798. Child care services and youth program services for dependents: financial assistance for providers (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Defense may provide financial assistance to an eligible civil- ian provider of child care services or youth pro- gram services that furnishes such services for members of the armed forces, survivors of mem- bers of the armed forces who die in combat-re- lated incidents in the line of duty, and employ- ees of the United States if the Secretary deter- mines that providing such financial assistance— (1) is in the best interest of the Department of Defense; (2) enables supplementation or expansion of furnishing of child care services or youth pro- gram services for military installations, while not supplanting or replacing such services; and (3) ensures that the eligible provider is able to comply, and does comply, with the regula- tions, policies, and standards of the Depart- ment of Defense that are applicable to the fur- nishing of such services. (b) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS.—A provider of child care services or youth program services is eligi- ble for financial assistance under this section if the provider— (1) is licensed to provide those services under applicable State and local law; (2) has previously provided such services for members of the armed forces or employees of the United States; and (3) either— (A) is a family home day care provider; or (B) is a provider of family child care serv- ices that— (i) otherwise provides federally funded or sponsored child development services; (ii) provides the services in a child devel- opment center owned and operated by a private, not-for-profit organization; (iii) provides before-school or after- school child care program in a public school facility; (iv) conducts an otherwise federally funded or federally sponsored school age child care or youth services program; (v) conducts a school age child care or youth services program that is owned and operated by a not-for-profit organization; or (vi) is a provider of another category of child care services or youth services deter- mined by the Secretary of Defense as ap- propriate for meeting the needs of mem- bers of the armed forces or employees of the Department of Defense. (c) FUNDING.—To provide financial assistance under this subsection, the Secretary of Defense may use any funds appropriated to the Depart- ment of Defense for operation and maintenance. (Added Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 584(a)(1)(B), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 634; amended Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title X, § 1041(a)(6), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2645; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title VI, § 624, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1428.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 1798 was renumbered section 1800 of this title. AMENDMENTS 2019—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–92 inserted ‘‘, survivors of members of the armed forces who die in combat-re- lated incidents in the line of duty,’’ after ‘‘armed forces’’ in introductory provisions. 2002—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–314 struck out heading and text of subsec. (d). Text read as follows: