[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8336 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8336
To address the challenges of providing child care opportunities for
military families, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 16, 2026
Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia (for herself and Ms. Jacobs) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To address the challenges of providing child care opportunities for
military families, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Ensure Reliable
Opportunities in Child Care for Military Families Act'' or the ``HERO
Child Care for Military Families Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDERS FOR DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE PROGRAMS.
(a) Removal of Prior Service Requirement.--Section 1798(b) of title
10, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking the semicolon and
inserting ``; and'';
(2) by striking paragraph (2); and
(3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2).
(b) National Service Volunteers.--Subchapter II of chapter 88 of
title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section
1792 the following new section:
``Sec. 1792a. Child care employees: additional authorities
``(a) National Service Volunteers.--(1) The Secretary of Defense
may seek to enter into an interagency partnership with a Federal agency
with the ability to place individuals described in paragraph (2) in
military child development centers in accordance with national service
laws and with all the benefits accorded to such individuals under those
laws.
``(2) An individual described in this paragraph is a participant,
including a volunteer or national senior volunteer, under the national
service laws who is trained in education services and is in compliance
with hiring requirements for military child development centers.
``(3) In this subsection, the terms `participant' and `national
service laws' have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511)).''.
SEC. 3. PRECLEARANCE OF CHILD CARE EMPLOYEES AT MILITARY CHILD
DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.
Section 1792a of title 10, United States Code, as added by section
2(b) of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(b) Preclearance of Child Care Employees at Military Child
Development Centers.--(1) Not later than June 1, 2027, the Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness shall prescribe
regulations, including by revising Department of Defense Instruction
1402.05, relating to background checks on individuals in Department of
Defense child care services programs or any successor instruction, to
provide for preclearance of individuals applying to be child care
employees at military child development centers.
``(2) In prescribing regulations under paragraph (1), the Under
Secretary shall--
``(A) specify a length of time, not to exceed one year, for
the preclearance of an individual to be valid for purposes of
employment at military child development centers; and
``(B) require annual reverification for a child care
employee who received preclearance to be conducted not later
than one year after the date of the preclearance of the
individual.
``(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed--
``(A) to limit the ability of the Department of Defense to
conduct, in accordance with regulations and policies of the
Department, additional or more current or recent background
checks on individuals who have received preclearance; or
``(B) to require the Department--
``(i) to hire an individual who received
preclearance; or
``(ii) to provide any appeal or right of action to
an individual who received preclearance and was not
selected by the Department for an open position as a
child care employee.
``(4) In this subsection, the term `preclearance', with respect to
an individual, means the individual obtains a background check,
including a fingerprint check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and a State Criminal History Repository check, and a health screening
to be a child care employee at a military child development center,
without regard to whether there is an open job for a child care
employee at the time of the background check and screening are
conducted.''.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF JOB-SHARING ARRANGEMENTS FOR CHILD CARE
EMPLOYEES.
Section 1792a of title 10, United States Code, as amended by
section 3 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(c) Authorization of Job-sharing Arrangements for Child Care
Employees.--(1) Consistent with chapter 34 of title 5, and policies of
the Department of Defense permitting part-time employment and job-
sharing arrangements for civilian personnel, the Secretary of Defense
may authorize the use of voluntary job-sharing arrangements for child
care employees at military child development centers.
``(2) The Secretary may authorize job-sharing arrangements under
this subsection--
``(A) to expand the pool of qualified child care employees
available to meet the needs of military families;
``(B) to accommodate individuals unable to work full-time
schedules as a result of caregiving, education, or other
personal circumstances;
``(C) to reduce staffing vacancies and workforce turnover;
and
``(D) to support continuity and reliability of child care
services for military families.
``(3) In this subsection, the term `job-sharing arrangement' means
a work arrangement under which the duties and responsibilities of a
single full-time child care employee position are shared by two part-
time child care employees, each serving not fewer than 20 hours per
week.''.
SEC. 5. LIMITED ACCESS TO CERTAIN BENEFITS FOR CHILD CARE EMPLOYEES.
Section 1792a of title 10, United States Code, as amended by
section 4 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(d) Limited Access to Certain Benefits for Child Care
Employees.--(1) The Secretary of Defense may authorize child care
employees working at military child development centers to receive
limited access to benefits described in paragraph (2) if the Secretary
determines such access is necessary to support recruitment and
retention of child care employees and continuity of child care
services.
``(2) The benefits that may be provided to a child care employee
under paragraph (1) are the following:
``(A) Commissary and exchange privileges, on days on which
the employee is providing child care services on a military
installation, on the same basis as civilian employees of the
Department of Defense under Directive-type Memorandum 21-003 or
any successor Department of Defense issuance.
``(B) Use of MWR retail facilities, including fitness
centers, if the Secretary determines that authorizing such use
will support the stability of the child care workforce.
``(C) Tuition assistance and referral bonuses under terms
and conditions comparable to similar workforce recruitment and
retention programs authorized for other civilian and contractor
workforces of the Department of Defense.
``(D) Such other limited benefits as the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(3)(A) A child care employee who receives a benefit under
paragraph (1) may not transfer the benefit to any other person.
``(B) The Secretary may revoke a benefit provided to a child care
employee under paragraph (1) at any time.
``(4) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this section, the Secretary shall issue guidance to implement this
subsection.
``(5) In this subsection, the term `MWR retail facility' has the
meaning given that term in section 1063 of this title.''.
SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CHILD CARE READINESS DATA SYSTEM.
Subchapter II of chapter 88 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1799 the following new section:
``Sec. 1799a. Child care readiness data system
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish and
maintain a unified, Department-wide child care readiness data system
(in this section referred to as the `System') to assess, monitor, and
manage child care capacity and child care workforce readiness across
the Department of Defense.
``(b) Required Data Elements.--The System shall include information
on the following:
``(1) Child care capacity and utilization, disaggregated by
military installation and region.
``(2) Child care workforce staffing levels, vacancies,
turnover rates, and compensation ranges.
``(3) Child care waitlists, disaggregated by--
``(A) families with no access to child care;
``(B) families using temporary child care or child
care located off a military installation; and
``(C) families requiring child care during
nontraditional hours.
``(4) Demand for child care by age cohort, with specific
identification of children under age 5.
``(5) Utilization and attrition data for fee assistance
programs.
``(6) Geographic areas with persistent unmet child care
needs.
``(7) Such other information as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
``(c) Standardization and Updates.--The Secretary shall--
``(1) standardize the collection of data on child care
across the military departments; and
``(2) update the information in the System not less
frequently than every 90 days.
``(d) Briefings Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of Defense shall brief the Committees on Armed Services of
the Senate and the House of Representatives on--
``(1) findings derived from the System;
``(2) actions taken to address any gaps in child care
availability identified through the System; and
``(3) recommendations for legislative or regulatory
authorities or funding required to reduce the unmet need for
child care.''.
SEC. 7. REPORT ON CHILD CARE WAITLISTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional
defense committees (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United
States Code) a report on waitlists for child care across the Department
of Defense.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include
the following:
(1) A description of steps being taken to centralize
systems and collect data on waitlists for child care across the
Department of Defense.
(2) A description of data that the Department has on child
care waitlists.
(3) A description of steps being taken by the Department to
resolve discrepancies or misleading information in the data,
such as children being counted on multiple waitlists
simultaneously and inclusion of children who are receiving
child care services but are on waitlists for purposes of
obtaining alternative child care.
(4) An analysis of what proportion of waitlist spots
represent unmet need for child care as opposed to duplicate
entries.
(5) A plan for improving data collection on child care
waitlists.
SEC. 8. REPORT ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILD CARE AVAILABILITY AND
READINESS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense
committees (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States
Code) a report that analyzes the relationship between child care
availability and each of the following:
(1) Military readiness and training participation.
(2) Retention and separation decisions.
(3) Families in which two parents are members of the Armed
Forces.
(4) High operational-tempo units.
(5) Workforce participation of military spouses.
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