战争部扩大社区托儿费用援助试点：信仰类托儿机构纳入，覆盖四州与 Miami-Dade 县
美国战争部11月12日宣布，扩大现有的社区托儿费用援助计划试点，把信仰类托儿机构纳入援助范围，帮助托儿选择有限地区的军人家庭分担费用。这项援助通过「你身边的军人托儿」计划实施。
战争部表示，缺乏方便、负担得起的高质量托儿服务，直接威胁军人的战备状态、留任率与战斗力。这次试点即日起生效，覆盖阿肯色州、马里兰州、北卡罗来纳州、弗吉尼亚州与佛罗里达州 Miami-Dade 县。试点把费用援助资格扩展到依法享有执照豁免地位、经州批准的社区托儿机构，也覆盖无需单独托儿执照的学校运营的公立或私立项目。
总统军事配偶委员会主席 Jennifer Hegseth 表示，军人配偶与军人一样作出巨大牺牲，要忍受频繁搬家与长期分离。高层倾听军人社区声音并采取行动，能直接缓解家庭的日常压力。她称这次托儿扩围是重要一步。
为保障军人子女的安全与福祉，所有参与机构必须遵守州的健康与安全标准、联邦背景审查标准以及当地教育与托儿法规。由于各地规定不同，弗吉尼亚州与 Miami-Dade 县的机构还必须参加所在州的质量提升计划或补贴计划才有资格。战争部表示，将在所有获批地点提供托儿费用援助，并可根据需要灵活扩大试点地点。
负责人事与战备的战争部副部长 Anthony Tata 表示，后方的稳定直接影响作战准备状态，军人在知道家人安全、得到支持时表现最佳。战争部正大力削减官僚环节，在家庭最需要的地方提供灵活、可靠的托儿选择。军人家庭即日起可使用这些扩大的资源，可通过军方托儿网站查询与申请，也可通过联邦托儿信息网站了解当地安全标准、师生比与质量评级。
（来源：美国战争部）
Department of War Expands Community Childcare Fee Assistance Pilot to Include Faith-Based Providers Across Four States and Miami-Dade County
The Department of War announced on November 12 that it is expanding its existing childcare fee assistance program to include faith-based childcare providers, supporting military families in areas where childcare options are limited. The assistance runs through the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program.
The department said any lack of convenient, affordable and high-quality childcare is a direct threat to service member readiness, retention and combat power. Effective immediately, the pilot expands childcare fee assistance across Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Miami-Dade County, Florida, extending eligibility to state-approved community childcare providers operating under legally recognized, license-exempt status, and to school-operated public or private programs that do not require a separate childcare license.
Jennifer Hegseth, chair of President Donald Trump's Military Spouse Commission, said military spouses share in the extraordinary sacrifices of the nation's warriors, enduring frequent moves and long separations, and that when senior leadership listens to the military community and takes action, it directly relieves the everyday pressures on families. She called the childcare expansion a critical step forward.
To protect military children, all participating providers must comply with established state health and safety standards, federal background check standards, and local education and childcare laws. Providers in Virginia and Miami-Dade County, Florida, must also participate in their state's quality improvement initiative or subsidy program to qualify. The department said fee assistance will be available across all approved locations, with flexibility to scale and add pilot sites as needed.
Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata said operational readiness is directly impacted by the stability of the home front, and that warfighters perform at their best when they know their families are safe and supported at home. He said the department is aggressively cutting through bureaucratic red tape to provide flexible, reliable childcare options where families need them most. Military families can begin using the expanded resources immediately, searching for care and submitting requests through MilitaryChildCare.com, or researching local safety standards, staff-to-child ratios and quality ratings through Childcare.gov.
(Source: U.S. Department of War)
来源：美国战争部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：五角大楼。GSM 固定图库照片。 / Photo: The Pentagon. GSM fixed image library.
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