04.23.20

Sullivan Secures Coast Guard’s Priority Access to DOD Child Care

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Security, today thanked the Department of Defense (DOD) for amending a policy that hindered U.S. Coast Guard members’ access to DOD child care programs. On February 21, Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued a memorandum establishing a tiered priority system for military members’ access to DOD child care services, with active duty Coast Guard members ranking below other DOD active duty personnel, and some reserve members and DOD civilian employees. Today, DOD released a change to this policy to give the children of Coast Guard active duty, reserve, and civilian employees the same level of prioritization for access to military child care centers as their DOD counterparts.

“We task our courageous members of the Coast Guard with monitoring and defending our vast maritime borders, executing life-saving search-and-rescue operations, responding to international crises, and supporting DOD operations, among other missions,” said Senator Sullivan. “We cannot compromise the readiness of a critical branch of America’s armed forces, especially in the middle of a global health crisis. I thank Secretary Esper for heeding our call to fix this unacceptable oversight, which will hopefully give greater peace of mind to many service members concerned about the basic services they rely on for their kids. Finally, I want to express loud and clear to all of the outstanding Coast Guard professionals serving in Alaska and across our country: Your mission is absolutely essential to the security and well-being of all Americans and you deserve every benefit afforded to other members of the military." 

BACKGROUND:

Under the new policy, roughly 1,100 children of Coast Guardsmen enrolled in DOD child care services faced being ejected, with only 45 days’ notice, to accommodate other military members and theirfamilies. The policy change comes after Senator Sullivan, 15 of his Senate colleagues and 5 congressmen sent a letter to Secretary Esper raising concerns about the ramifications of the tiered DOD child care policy. 

In addition to the letter to Secretary Esper, Senator Sullivan has also spoken about the policy with then-Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Dr. Alexis Ross, and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Virginia Penrod.

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