MCCYN Provider Requirements

The Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) program offers military-connected families greater access to child care in their community. Community-based child care providers who participate in the MCCYN program must have a state child care license and meet specific quality requirements.

DoW requires community-based providers to meet these standards to ensure military-connected children receive a similar level of quality care through MCCYN as they would at a military-operated program.

Child care provider and toddlers play with toys

MCCYN Provider Requirements

To provide care through the MCCYN fee assistance program, community-based providers must meet the following criteria.

Be state licensed, and
Pass annual inspections by an oversight agency.

AND MEET ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

Be accredited by a DoW-recognized national accreditation organization, or
Qualify for MCCYN-PLUS if the program has a DoW-approved quality rating level from a participating state or county quality ratings program.

What is child care licensing?

Although it does not guarantee quality, child care licensing is the main way states regulate child care to ensure the health and safety of children in child care. All providers participating in the MCCYN program must have a valid state child care license that covers all ages served at the center or home. While child care licensing standards vary by state, all are federally required to set baseline health and safety requirements that providers must meet to operate legally. To learn more about child care licensing and how your state licenses child care, visit ChildCare.gov to see your state’s resources page. 

What is national accreditation?

Center-based child care programs that earn national accreditation demonstrate that they meet standards for higher quality child care that go beyond a state’s minimum licensing standards. This process includes self-study, continued program development, and assessment by an independent professional accrediting agency. Providers participating in a DoW-funded MCCYN program must obtain accreditation from one of the following recognized national accrediting organizations:

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (Must meet the Accreditation or Accreditation+ tier requirements; excludes the Recognition tier)
National Accreditation Commission (NAC)
National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA)
Council on Accreditation (COA)
Cognia – NCA/SACS/NWAC (formerly AdvancED) (Must include the early learning component.)
Middle States Association (MSA)
Maryland State Dept. of Education (MSDE) Accreditation (Maryland ONLY)

Family Child Care Programs

Family child care programs must meet the following requirements: 

Have a current state license,
Be inspected by an oversight agency once a year, and
Be accredited by the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) or one of the DoW-approved accrediting agencies listed above.

What is MCCYN-PLUS?

What is MCCYN-PLUS?

DoW created the MCCYN-PLUS program to ensure military connected families have access to quality child care in locations where accredited child care is limited. Through the program, providers have the opportunity to participate in MCCYN if they meet the required quality rating level for that state.

What are quality ratings?

Many states use a child care quality rating system to help families to easily identify high-quality child care programs when searching for care. These ratings help measure additional program features that go beyond minimum child care licensing requirements to support higher quality care. Like rating systems for public schools or hotels, states award child care quality ratings to child care and school age programs when they meet a set of defined program quality standards. Most states use symbols, such as stars, to easily indicate levels of quality. Programs earn higher ratings when the state determines they have met more quality standards.

To learn more and quality ratings, visit ChildCare.gov.

Which community-based providers can participate in MCCYN-PLUS?

MCCYN-PLUS providers must meet the following minimum standards:

Be state licensed
Participate in the state’s quality rating system and have achieved a minimum state quality rating, as determined by the DoW
Demonstrate continuous quality improvement until the provider can achieve the highest rating or accreditation.

Where is MCCYN-PLUS available?

DoW continues to work with states to expand participation in MCCYN-PLUS. The program is currently available in the following locations:

Arkansas
Colorado
Florida: Miami-Dade County
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey

New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
San Diego, CA
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington

What if my provider has questions about MCCYN?

What if my provider has questions about MCCYN?

Share the DoW Provider Network page with your provider so they can learn more about what it means to be an MCCYN provider.