Photo By Devin Fisher | FORT CARSON, Colo. — Prospective job seekers attend a Child and Youth Services...... read more read more
FORT CARSON, Colo. – On a busy Tuesday morning at Fort Carson’s Elkhorn Conference Center, Brooke Waters, management assistant for manpower with Fort Carson’s Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, watches on as nearly a hundred prospective job seekers mingle, interview and discuss all aspects of on-post child care.
From the moment applicants leave the now-full parking lot and enter the bustling Fort Carson Child and Youth Services Hiring Fair, they are greeted by a smiling DFMWR staff member, checked in and ushered through the streamlined hiring event.
“By design, the flow of this event is very intentional,” said Waters. “Applicants begin by working with human resources representatives to go over their qualifications and preferences, which then allows us to identify – based on the needs of the CYS facilities – where they’d fit best.”
From there, applicants interview directly with facility managers and discuss the ins and outs of the onboarding process.
At the end of the hiring fair, 89 applicants received tentative job offers to work for Fort Carson CYS, pending background checks, occupational health assessments and submission of necessary documentation.
The Aug. 12, 2025, CYS hiring fair was just one of the many avenues Fort Carson DFMWR is using to address the growing needs of military Families; specifically on-post child care. From hiring sites such as USAJobs.gov, CYS-centric hiring fairs and an increase in hiring incentives, to include cash bonuses and commissary privileges, Waters believes Fort Carson CYS is headed in the right direction.
And while these incentives and avenues might sound enticing, those familiar with the federal hiring process know that an official start date might be months away from an initial offer. But Waters said they’ve cracked the onboarding code.
In June 2025, Fort Carson DFMWR began testing a pilot hiring program that streamlines the onboarding process, cutting the wait time down from 120 days to 40.
“In the past two weeks, we have selected 141 applicants and awaiting tentative job offers,” said Ryan Noble, director of Fort Carson DFMWR. “This program will allow for a more efficient onboarding process while ensuring all applicants pass the necessary background checks required to work with and around children.”
Currently, Fort Carson operates nine CYS facilities: five child development centers (for children 6 weeks to 5 years old), two school-age centers (for children 6 to 12 years old), one youth center (for middle and high school students) and one parent outreach services facility.
Across these facilities, DFMWR employs approximately 350 child care specialists and supports more than 1,100 children of military Families.
While the goal is always to provide military Families with exceptional child care, Noble hopes this new expedited hiring process will be effective in reducing Families’ time spent on the CYS waitlist.
Breaking down the waitlist
According to militarychildcare.com, three factors are used to determine a Family’s place on an installation’s CYS waitlist: Family eligibility, Family type and priority for care. From there, military Families are added to the waitlist according to priority order, as listed below.
• Priority 1: Child development program staff and service members
- Priority 1A: Child development program staff
- Priority 1B: Single or dual military Families or military with a full-time working spouse
- Priority 1C: Military with a part-time working spouse or spouse seeking employment
- Priority 1D: Military with a spouse enrolled as a full-time student
• Priority 2: Single or dual DOD civilian or DOD civilian with a full-time working spouse
• Priority 3: Space available
For Families unable to access child care on a military installation alternative options exist through the Army Fee Assistance program, which assists eligible Families in locating, selecting, and offsetting the cost of off-post child care when on-post child care is not available. To learn more about Army Fee Assistance, visit https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/cys/childcare-fee-assistance.
Still to come for Fort Carson CYS
Plans to reopen the Aspen CDC are underway after initially closing its doors in 2023 for renovation. Located close to Gate 3 and up the street from the new Abrams Elementary School, Aspen will cater to Families with newborns and infants while serving as a key location for Families with students enrolled at both the CDC and the elementary school.
“We understand that Fort Carson CYS can directly support our Soldiers’ readiness,” Noble said. “By providing a safe, reliable and nurturing environment for Families, Soldiers can focus on their overall mission and not worry about the development of their children at their home station.”
To learn more about careers with Fort Carson CYS, visit https://carson.armymwr.com/carsonCYS.
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2025 15:27 |
| Story ID: | 545977 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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