Operation Child Care Project: Kayla Corbitt on Protecting Military Families through Accessible Child Care

Life as a military family is a whirlwind of constant changes, challenges, and, let’s face it, a whole lot of resilience. From deployments to frequent relocations, military life is demanding in ways that many civilians might never fully grasp. One of the toughest aspects for military parents is finding reliable and affordable child care, a necessity that can seem almost impossible to secure.

Kayla Corbitt, founder of the Operation Child Care Project (OCCP), has dedicated herself to addressing this issue. In her recent appearance on the Our Navy Life podcast, Corbitt discusses the immense pressure child care—or the lack of it—puts on military families. With passion and purpose, she breaks down how OCCP is working to protect military families by making child care more accessible, affordable, and effective. Let’s dive into the highlights of what Kayla shared in this episode and explore how OCCP is transforming lives on the front lines of military child care.

The Critical Need for Child Care in Military Families

In her interview, Kayla Corbitt doesn’t mince words: child care is an urgent need for military families. The constant moving from base to base, the unpredictable deployment schedules, and the lack of local family support make it harder for military parents to secure steady child care. And without reliable care, many parents—especially military spouses—are forced to put their careers or education on hold.

Corbitt points out that this isn’t just about child care logistics. It’s about ensuring that military families have the support they need to thrive, both at home and in their professional lives. When child care falls through the cracks, it doesn’t just affect the family—it impacts the mission of the entire military. Service members perform their duties better knowing that their families are safe, cared for, and supported back home.

But finding child care is far from easy. The long waitlists for on-base Child Development Centers (CDCs) mean that many families are left scrambling for alternatives. Off-base child care can be prohibitively expensive, adding even more stress to families who are often living on tight budgets. Corbitt emphasizes that this is a national issue, not just one isolated to a handful of bases.

For more insights, check out the full podcast episode with Kayla Corbitt on Our Navy Life here.