How to Request Child Care
With an MCC account, you can explore military child care and fee assistance options worldwide and place unlimited requests for care. Just follow these four simple steps. It’s that easy!
Create an Account
Select “Create an Account” at the top of this page. Once you create an account, you will set up a Household Profile that stores key information about your family and allows you to conduct a customized search for military child care and fee assistance programs.
Search for and Request Child Care and Fee Assistance
Your MCC account gives you access to the full range of military child care programs. Request care as soon as you know your duty station and tentative arrival date to get on the waitlist. You can search multiple locations and submit requests for all the military child care options in your search area that meet your care needs.
Manage Your Requests
Log in to MilitaryChildCare.com to update or cancel your requests for care. Notifications about your requests, including offers for care when space is available, will be delivered to your preferred email address and posted to “Time Sensitive Actions” in your MilitaryChildCare.com dashboard.
Update Your Household Profile
If your household information changes, log in to MilitaryChildCare.com to update your profile. Keep your sponsor and spouse information current to help programs quickly confirm if you are eligible for care. Also, keep your email address up-to-date so you do not miss any important messages.
How do MCC Program Waitlists Work?
When you request care with a program, your length of wait time will be based on a combination of the following:
DoD priority
DoD assigns a priority level to each family type based on your DoD-approved sponsor type and, if applicable, spouse employment status.
Learn more about DoD’s priority guidelines.
Request for Care Date
The date you submit your Request for Care (RFC) in MCC is also important. MCC uses the timestamp from this submission – along with your family’s DoD-priority level – to help programs determine who may receive the next offer for care when a space becomes available.
Watch this video to learn more about how the waitlist works.
Track Your Anticipated Placement Time (APT)
- Instead of a waitlist number, you will receive an APT— an anticipated placement time—which is a time estimate of when a spot may become available. The APT for each request will update as programs update their enrollment.
- You can track the status of each request’s APT on your My Child Care page.
Tips to Improve Your Chances of Receiving Care
- Submit a request as soon as you can. For example, you may submit a request before you receive orders to a new duty station, before your baby is born or adopted, or before your child ages up and needs school-age care.
- When searching for care, review the Anticipated Placement Time (APT) estimates when available and submit requests for programs with an APT that most closely matches your need.
- Request care from several programs and different program types (for example, CDC, FCC, and MCCYN).
- If you are considering Family Child Care, select “Any Provider” associated with the FCC Program rather than requesting individual providers. Requesting “Any Provider” adds you to the waitlist for all FCC providers in your search area and increases your chances of getting a slot.
PCSing to a New Duty Station?
You may be eligible for reimbursement of some commercial travel costs for a designated person to provide child care.
Starting October 1, 2024, if child care isn’t available within 30 days of your Date Care Needed (DCN) in MCC at your new Permanent Duty Station, you may be eligible for reimbursement of some commercial travel costs for a designated person who will care for your children. Reimbursement is provided through a congressionally authorized pilot program through 30 September 2027.
Read about how the program works, who is eligible, and how to apply.
