,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #adcd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,june #bf1     
#bjag ,mrs4 ,gillibrand 7for herself and
 ,mr4 ,cotton7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,armed ,services   
,a ,,bill  ,to enhance the military     
childcare programs and activities of the
 ,department of ,defense1 and for other 
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,availability of    
,child ,care for ,every ,servicemember  
and ,spouse ,act or ,,access ,act4  #b4 
,hours of operation of childcare        
development centers of the ,department  
of ,defense  7a7 ,in general ,the hours 
of operation of each childcare          
development center 7,,cdc7 of the       
,department of ,defense shall1 to the   
extent practicable1 be set and          
maintained in a manner that takes into  
account the demands and circumstances of
 members of the ,armed ,forces1         
including members of the reserve        

components1 who use such center in      
facilitation of the performance of their
 military duties4  7b7 ,matters ,to be  
taken into account ,the demands and     
circumstances to be taken into account  
under subsection 7a7 for purposes of    
setting and maintaining the hours of    
operation of a childcare development    
center shall include the following3     
7#a7 ,mission requirements of units     
whose members use such center4  7#b7    
,the unpredictability of work schedules1
 and fluctuations in day-to-day work    
hours1 of such members4  7#c7 ,the      
potential for frequent and prolonged    
absences of such members for training1  
operations1 and deployments4  7#d7 ,the 
location of such center on the military 
installation concerned1 including the   
location in connection with duty        
locations of members and applicable     
military family housing4  7#e7 ,the     
geographic separation of such members   
from their extended family4  7#f7 ,the  
extent to which spouses of such members 

are employed or pursuing educational    
opportunities1 whether on a full-time   
basis or a part-time basis4  7#g7 ,such 
other matters as the ,secretary of the  
military department concerned considers 
appropriate for purposes of this        
section4  #c4 ,childcare coordinators   
for military installations  7a7         
,childcare coordinators ,each ,secretary
 of a military department shall provide 
for a childcare coordinator at each     
military installation under the         
jurisdiction of such ,secretary at which
 are stationed significant numbers of   
members of the ,armed ,forces with      
accompanying dependent children1 as     
determined by such ,secretary4  7b7     
,nature of position ,the childcare      
coordinator for a military installation 
may be an individual appointed to that  
position on full-time or part-time basis
 or an individual appointed to another  
position whose duties in such other     
position are consistent with the        
discharge by the person of the duties of

 childcare coordinator4  7c7 ,duties    
,each childcare coordinator for an      
installation shall carry out the duties 
as follows3  7#a7 ,act as an advocate   
for military families at the            
installation on childcare matters both  
on-installation and off-installation4   
7#b7 ,work with the commander of the    
installation in order to seek to ensure 
that the childcare development centers  
at the installation1 together with any  
other available childcare options on or 
in the vicinity of the installation--   
7,a7 provide a quality of care          
7including a caregiver-to-child ratio7  
commensurate with best practices of     
private providers of childcare services2
 and  7,b7 are responsive to the        
childcare needs of members stationed at 
the installation and their families4    
7#c7 ,work with private providers of    
childcare services in the vicinity of   
the installation in order to--  7,a7    
track vacancies in the childcare        
facilities of such providers2  7,b7 seek

 to obtain favorable prices for the use 
of such services by members stationed at
 the installation2 and  7,c7 otherwise  
ease the use of such services by such   
members4  7#d7 ,such other duties as the
 ,secretary of the military department  
concerned shall specify4  #d4 ,pilot    
program on collaboration between        
installation commanders and private     
providers of childcare services in the  
vicinity of military installations for  
access to childcare services  7a7 ,pilot
 programs required ,each ,secretary of a
 military department shall carry out a  
pilot program to assess the feasability 
and advisability of permitting          
commanders of military installations    
under the jurisdiction of such          
,secretary at which are stationed       
significant numbers of members of the   
,armed ,forces with accompanying        
dependent children1 as determined by    
such ,secretary1 to collaborate with    
private providers of childcare services 
in the vicinity of such installations to

 reserve for such members access to all 
or a portion of the childcare services  
of such providers4  7b7 ,commencement   
,the pilot programs required by this    
section shall be commenced not later    
than #ahj days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act4  7c7 ,military  
installations ,each pilot program under 
this section shall be carried out by the
 ,secretary of the military department  
concerned at not less than four military
 installations described in subsection  
7a7 that are selected by such ,secretary
 for purposes of such pilot program4    
7d7 ,discharge of collaboration ,the    
commander of a military installation    
participating in a pilot program under  
this section may conduct collaboration  
described in subsection 7a7 under the   
pilot program through one or more       
individuals designated by the commander 
for that purpose1 including1 in         
particular1 the childcare coordinator   
for the military installation under     
section #c4  7e7 ,reports ,not later    

than one year after the commencement of 
a pilot program under this section1 the 
,secretary of the military department   
concerned shall submit to the           
,committees on ,armed ,services of the  
,senate and the ,house of               
,representatives a report on the pilot  
program4 ,each report on a pilot program
 shall include the following3  7#a7 ,a  
description of the pilot program1       
including the installations at which the
 pilot program was carried out and the  
collaboration described in subsection   
7a7 that occurred at each such          
installation4  7#b7 ,an assessment of   
the efficacy of the collaboration in    
improving the satisfaction of military  
families with access to childcare       
services4  7#c7 ,an assessment of the   
pilot program by the commanders and     
other leadership of the installations   
participating in the pilot program4     
7#d7 ,an assessment of the feasability  
and advisability of expanding the pilot 
program throughout the military         

department concerned1 including         
recommendations on modifications to the 
authorities of the pilot program in     
order to make such authorities suitable 
to a range of installations of the      
military department or to tailor such   
authorities to particular installations 
of the military department4  7#e7 ,any  
other matters such ,secretary considers 
appropriate in light of the pilot       
program4