FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Fort Leonard Wood’s Family Child Care program not only delivers certified, home-based childcare to military families, but it also offers military spouses a rewarding opportunity as small business owners, according to FCC Director Ellie Johnson. “FCC is a great opportunity to run your own business from home, have steady income while raising your own children, and help the community by providing childcare for Soldiers and civilians,” Johnson said. The FCC program, a part of the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, provides care for children who are 4-weeks to 12-years-old in government-owned and government-leased housing on post. Johnson said military families looking for alternatives to the Child Development Centers and School Age Center, may consider the FCC program. “The benefit of using FCC is it’s a small homier environment,” she said. “With FCC you will never have more than six children per home.” Another reason families choose the FCC program is for extended care options offered by some providers, meaning more flexible hours, such as “weekend hours and hours outside of the normal hours of 5:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,” Johnson said. “If you are a dual-military family or a single-Soldier family, you can call ahead and talk to the extended care providers who are able to do this,” she said. “We currently have nine providers who can provide extended care.” According to Johnson, there is also cost savings associated with using an FCC provider as “their fees are 15% lower than enrolling children in the facility-based programs.” Johnson said the FCC program maintains consistent quality across the installation by aligning provider training requirements directly with standard DFMWR Child and Youth Services staff credentials. “All FCC providers attend CYS’s orientation training here on Fort Leonard Wood and that training is provided by subject matter experts within our organization,” Johnson said. “They have to complete special needs training, child abuse training, food service and sanitation training and childhood development training.” The training, which is provided for free, also includes safety training such as fire safety, first aid and CPR, she added. Johnson emphasized that child safety is the paramount priority and serves as the foundation for delivering the highest quality of care within the FCC program. “All the family members of the household, 12 years and older, undergo background investigations,” Johnson said. “The homes are also subject to unannounced inspections by myself, trainers, members of Army Public Health, Environmental Health, Garrison Safety and the fire department.” Additionally, Johnson hosts an FCC parent advisory meeting the second Tuesday of each month in Bldg. 470, Room 1125, where parents can discuss their concerns, share information with providers and discuss upcoming events. Johnson said there are many considerations providers should take before deciding to open their homes to FCC, such as having a separate area for children that is close to the kitchen and a bathroom so the providers can always have line-of-sight of children in their care. She also said families should consider how opening their home to children from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. will affect their daily routine. “The most important thing is for the family to talk among themselves and for all the family to be on board, especially if they have spouses,” Johnson said. Besides allowing her to stay home with her son while making income for her family, Madison Bosanko, an FCC provider for 12 years, likes the flexibility of FCC because it allows her to adapt the program to the needs of the children within her care. “We still follow all the same CYS policies and regulations, but we get to customize our homes to the children we have,” Bosanko said. “We have freedom to change our lesson plans and really be able to adapt to the kids in our program.” An additional benefit of becoming an FCC provider is the fact that it is transferable to other installations — almost every garrison offers the program, Bosanko said. One of the perceived barriers for families wanting to become FCC providers is the amount of work that goes into getting up and running, Bosanko said, but she stressed the program has plenty of resources to assist families trying to get started. “We have such a great group of providers — we’re all in a group chat — the new providers come and tour our houses so they can see how we operate,” she said. “They can go to someone’s house that has the same style of house as them and see how they run their program. We all learn things from each other.” A great resource that has been beneficial to FCC providers is the lending library, where providers can go to check out needed supplies such as equipment and toys, Bosanko added. “We have a really great lending library where we can go and borrow all our tables, chairs, cubbies and toys. Everything you need to set up your home,” Bosanko said. “I always tell the new girls, ’Don’t buy anything, take everything from the lending library so you can set up your home and when you start making money, then go out and start buying your own things.’” For Bosanko, the most rewarding aspect of being an FCC provider is the opportunity to teach and inspire young minds as they grow. “My favorite moment is when I see something that I’m teaching the children finally click in their head and they have that little aha moment,” she said. “It’s rewarding knowing that I’m making a difference in their life and teaching them something and them going home to their moms and dads and telling them what they’ve learned and everything we do.” She said she also just truly enjoys the work. “I literally get paid to play with kids every single day, it’s so much fun,” Bosanko said. “I get to sit around, eat, do crafts and play with playdough — all the things I got to do as a kid.” More information on becoming an FCC provider, or on signing children up for FCC, is available https://leonardwood.armymwr.com/programs/family-child-care or by calling 573.596.0185.