On September 25, 2023, the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS (MCCYN-PLUS) program launched in New York State to increase the availability of child care options for the state’s military families. MCCYN-PLUS extends eligibility for the federal military child care fee assistance program to all licensed/registered child care programs in New York State.
New York is the first state approved to qualify licensed/registered-only community providers for participation in the military child care fee assistance program. Child care providers that are licensed/registered-only are encouraged to take the next step in improving and sustaining high quality care by joining QUALITYstarsNY, New York State’s Quality Rating & Improvement System for early childhood programs.
The program expansion will impact more than 48,000 military families in New York State who will now be able to choose from among 15,000 state-licensed/registered child care providers that are eligible to become MCCYN-PLUS-approved programs.
MCCYN-PLUS will help families cover the cost of child care and will also increase payments to child care providers by raising the federal rate cap per child per month to $1,800. Military families can search for and select an approved child care provider through the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) request-for-care website MilitaryChildCare.com.
MCCYN-PLUS Programs Encouraged to Join QUALITYstarsNY, New York State’s Quality Rating & Improvement System
The Department of Defense encourages all child care providers that are licensed/registered-only to take the next step in improving and sustaining high quality care by joining QUALITYstarsNY, New York State’s Quality Rating & Improvement System for early childhood programs.
QUALITYstarsNY provides comprehensive services to help programs thrive, including one-on-one support from a Quality Improvement Specialist, professional development, scholarships for educational advancement, developmentally appropriate learning materials, and individualized quality improvement plans at no cost to participating programs. Regulated child care programs in all settings can join QUALITYstarsNY and there is no cost to participate and access QUALITYstarsNY’s resources and support. Learn more about the benefits of participating in QUALITYstarsNY.
Becoming an Approved MCCYN-PLUS Provider in New York State
State licensed/registered early childhood programs in New York are now eligible to become an approved MCCYN-PLUS provider. You do not need to be currently serving military families to join MCCYN-PLUS.
When you become an MCCYN-PLUS approved program, your business name will become searchable on the DOD request-for-child-care website, MilitaryChildCare.com, when military families become eligible for military fee assistance.
If your program was already MCCYN-approved before the launch of MCCYN-PLUS in New York, your status will automatically change to an MCCYN-PLUS-approved provider eligible to serve military families needing child care services.
QUALITYstarsNY programs should be aware that their program information, such as program name, website, physical address, and phone number, is shared with Military Child Care and will be listed on their website. You may receive communications from MCC requesting more details.
