Discover benefits of Fort Polk Family Child Care program

Photo By Chuck Cannon | Dylan Davis, 4, happily twirls like a ballarina as she picks up blocks to help put them away at her FCC provider's request.  

FORT POLK, LA, UNITED STATES

03.22.2019

Story by Angie Thorne 

Fort Johnson Public Affairs Office

By ANGIE THORNE
Guardian staff writer

FORT POLK, La. — Child care is one of the most important issues military working parents must tackle. Having options for a safe place to bring their children is paramount. Fort Polk offers its Soldiers and Families those options with quality child development centers, as well as a lesser known option — the Family Child Care Program (FCC), which offers military-based home child care.
FCC allows military Families to leave their children with a trained and authorized provider in a home environment. FCC is also available to civilian Department of Defense employees.
There are currently six authorized FCC homes at Fort Polk. For a post this size, that’s a small amount, said Jean Wadman, Child and Youth Services coordinator. “We want the program to grow,” she said.
Wadman said she started as an FCC provider in 1986 and turned her training into a life-long career.
“After working as a provider I moved on to a child development center. Thirty years later I’m the coordinator for CYS and running the whole show,” she said.
Valerie Hammond, Fort Polk CYS Family Child Care director and trainer, also started as an FCC provider and worked her way up through the CYS system.
“For me, the biggest motivation was that it was a great opportunity to help bring in an income. When I opened my home, I had two small children of my own who weren’t in school. It allowed me to stay at home with my kids,” she said.
Hammond said she feels the biggest issue with people not taking part in the FCC program is a lack of awareness.
Wadman said the lack of qualified FCC providers here may mean there is unauthorized child care taking place at Fort Polk. “We want to educate the Fort Polk community about the fact that you aren’t supposed to do that,” she said.
Hammond said she they aren’t trying to discourage Families from helping one another once in a while when they need someone to watch their children.
“That’s part of being a strong military community. Neighbors can watch children while parents attend classes, shop, go to a doctor’s appointment and more. It only becomes an issue when a person goes from helping out a friend to turning child care into an unauthorized business within government housing. If they want to do that, they have to become an authorized FCC provider,” she said.
Regulations state that unauthorized child care is any care given or provided in a home in excess of 10 hours per week that is being provided on a regular basis without the proper certifications, which is a violation of the housing lease agreement.
A “child care” hour is defined as one child for 10 hours per week or two children for five hours per week each. Children from the same Family count as one child.
Heather Owens, CYS program operations specialist, is a former FCC director. She said she loves the FCC program and wants to see it grow at Fort Polk.
“I think it’s a fantastic option for Soldiers and Families that don’t want to enroll their children at a CDC,” she said.
Owens said some Families feel their child may be more comfortable in a home.
“Parents can take comfort in the fact that an FCC provider is still following the same curriculum, as well as teaching the same concepts for social and emotional development, but in a home setting,” she said. “The providers also form a really strong relationship with the Families of the children they help care for.”
The ratio of child to provider is low with a maximum of six children, and FCC providers are able to offer multi-age care (ages 4 weeks to 12 years old), so siblings can stay together. In addition, the cost is 15 percent less than facility-based care.
Providers undergo extensive training to include CPR and first aid, developmentally appropriate practices and more, said Owens.
“They have to meet the same standards a center does, but they are a one-woman (or man) show,” she said.
Wadman said the FCC program isn’t baby sitting. “It is child development in the home,” she said.
In addition to training, the FCC program offers many benefits for military Families, said Wadman.
“The program is designed to help meet the Soldier’s mission. There is a flexibility that fills a gap when odd schedules and training doesn’t stop and a child development center closes at 6 p.m.,” she said.
FCC is regulated, said Wadman.
“We visit the homes weekly. Potential providers go through a thorough background check, the same one the centers use — their Family members go through a minimal background check,” she said. “They are inspected four times a year — three times by the installation and once by Army higher headquarters.”
As far as home visits go, Hammond said she doesn’t want providers to feel intimidated — she doesn’t just make visits for inspections.
“I also make friendly visits to see how things are going or if they need anything. I’m part of the support system for the providers,” she said.
Stacey Delgado, Fort Polk Employment Readiness program manager, said another benefit for Families using the FCC program is that military Families understand military life.
“An FCC provider has a built-in understanding of events like deployments and training and the types of behaviors they might see as a result of military life. These types of behaviors — separation anxiety and so forth — are just some of the things providers are trained to combat,” she said.
On the flip side, Wadman said there are also many advantages to becoming an FCC provider.
“Your potential to earn an income, depending on how much you want to work and the flexibility of your schedule can be really good,” she said. “Earning potential depends on the number of children you care for and what type of care the provider is offering. On average, a provider can make about $600 per child per month or more.”
FCC can also open the door for employment at child development centers because providers already have all the proper background checks and training, making it an easy transition, said Wadman.
After Hammond and her Family moved to Fort Polk, she said she was an FCC provider for about a year.
“I stopped after my Family purchased a house off post. I applied for and got a job at a CDC center, which was easy thanks to all my FCC training and experience. I also used my training as an FCC provider to transfer into college credits. That was a big help when I was working toward my degree,” she said.
Hammond said being a provider is a portable career.
“Once they have the initial training, their spouse is active duty and they remain in government housing, they can pack it up and take it from installation to installation as their Family moves on to their next duty station,” she said.
Owens said many providers choose this career because they have young children.
“They want to be able to raise their child while working from home and still make a good income. FCC provides them that opportunity,” she said.
Delgado said many spouses want to work from home and that’s exactly what becoming an FCC provider is all about.
“Information and awareness is key to getting the word out when spouses ask about job opportunities at Fort Polk,” she said. “I think this type of career is a lot more beneficial than taking on a customer service position. It’s providing spouses an avenue to further their education while helping them bring in a paycheck.”
Don’t get frustrated with the amount of time it takes to become official in the program, said Wadman.
“We live in a microwave society where everyone wants things done right now, but it takes time,” she said.
Hammond said the process can take anywhere from three to six months for a provider to be fully operational depending on training time.
For spouses that are interested in becoming an FCC provider, Hammond hosts orientation briefings on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at Child and Youth Services, bldg 400.
“That’s where we introduce the program and explain all of its requirements. After the orientation, you receive an application packet, fill it out and turn it back in. That gets the process started,” she said. “We also assist the provider with start-up costs. CYS has a lending library with supplies and materials, so the costs for the provider are minimal. The program also assists providers with food costs.”
Owens said she has seen providers begin the training and fall in love with the process.
“I’ve had them tell me they don’t know what they would do if they weren’t able to work from home,” she said.
Xenia Vazquez, has been a Fort Polk FCC provider a year and a half. She said she likes being with the kids, which allows her to take care of her son at the same time.
“The process took a while but it has been worth it. I was determined to be a provider,” she said. “I love helping these kids learn while feeling secure in a home environment. I think their parents also feel comfortable leaving their child in what they feel is a safe place.”
For more information call 531-1961.

• Date Taken: 03.22.2019
• Date Posted: 03.22.2019 10:03
• Story ID: 315349
• Location: FORT POLK, LA, US