What to Do When Military Fee Assistance Isn’t an Option at Your New Duty Station

At Operation Child Care Project™, we’re seeing a growing concern come up again and again in our case management: families arriving at new installations only to discover that Military Fee Assistance (MCCYN) isn’t available. It's not because they did anything wrong—it's because their installation is designated as non-enabled.

In our most recent Ask Me Anything Live, Sabrina Dalton (Case Manager) and Kayla Corbitt (Founder & CEO) sat down to unpack this issue and walk families through how to request an Exception to Policy (ETP) so they can still access the care they need.

Here are the highlights.

What’s a “Non-Enabled” Installation?

A non-enabled installation is one where your command has determined that there is adequate capacity within DoD-run care (like CDCs or FCCs). Because of this, families are not automatically eligible for off-base fee assistance—even if the actual availability tells a different story.

Here’s the catch: many CDCs are currently facing staffing shortages, hiring freezes, and reduced hours. Families are being supplanted—that is, removed from care—or told that waitlists have frozen. In some cases, the anticipated placement time is months (or years) away.

Still, when they log into MilitaryChildCare.com to apply for fee assistance, MCCYN isn’t even showing as an option.

What Can You Do?

You are not stuck. But the process to gain access to fee assistance at a non-enabled location requires you to request an Exception to Policy.

This is something our case management team helps families with daily—but if you're comfortable handling it yourself, here's what you’ll need to know.

Step 1: Gather the Right Information

When requesting an ETP, include the following in your email:

• The date you attempted to apply on MilitaryChildCare.com

• The date you need care to start

• The anticipated placement time (from the portal)

• The name of the licensed child care center where you found availability

• The impact if you cannot access fee assistance (think beyond financial—include how this affects your employment, education, mental health, and mission readiness)

Be specific. Explain clearly why on-base care is not viable and how it will affect your family if you’re unable to access MCCYN.

Step 2: Contact the Right Stakeholders

It’s essential to email the right people, and to keep all of them looped in:

• Your leadership (a first sergeant, supervisor, or shirt—doesn’t need to be your commander)

• Your spouse, if applicable

• Your Service Branch Program Manager

• Your Program Administrator (Child Care Aware of America for most branches, Navy/Coast Guard have their own)

• Your chosen child care provider

• The MilitaryChildCare.com team

• OCC Project support (optional but encouraged: support@operationchildcareproject.org)

Put everything in writing. Phone calls won’t create the accountability needed to move your request forward.

What Happens Next?

Once your ETP is submitted, one of the key steps is for your program administrator to manually enable MCCYN in your MilitaryChildCare.com account. Only then can you officially apply and move forward with the subsidy process.

Our team helps walk families through this exact process all the time. You can absolutely do it on your own—but if you get stuck, we’re here to back you up.

Final Thoughts

Child care shouldn’t be a battle, especially not for military families already carrying the weight of service. Whether you're facing long waitlists, sudden supplanting from a CDC, or just confusion about why MCCYN isn’t showing up—you’re not alone.

You can watch the full recording of this AMA on our YouTube and Facebook pages. And as always, if you need personalized help navigating this or any other child care issue, reach out to our case management team.

We’re in this with you—because we are you.

– The OCC Project Team