October 7, 2009

Navy Uses Special Authority to Launch New Child Care Center

Responding to an urgent need for additional child care opportunities for military and civilian employee families, the Navy has used special authority granted by Congress to begin construction of a facility at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton to accommodate 64 children, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Wednesday.

The center will be constructed inside the Charleston Avenue Gate, in an area that currently is now used for parking. 

In 2005, Congress gave the Defense Department the temporary authority to use surplus funds up to $5 million to address child care needs at military installations.  Normally military construction projects valued at more than $750,000 have been subject to a more rigorous and time-consuming approval process.

“With the increasing family needs at military bases, Congress acted to spur the expansion of child care opportunities on these installations,” Rep. Dicks said.   The special authority was approved in 2005 and extended in 2007, ending Sept. 30th as the government’s 2009 fiscal year concluded, he said.   

So the Navy last week awarded a contract to Advanced Technology Construction Corp for $4.2 million for the new child care center, to be completed by November of next year.   It is being constructed to accommodate 64 infants/toddlers in the 0-3 years of age range – the most urgent need in the Kitsap community, but it will have the potential for expansion, according to Rep. Dicks.  Placements in the facility will be determined in accordance with the priorities of existing DOD policies for serving military and civilian personnel.

“I am encouraged that the Navy has responded to the demand for more child care to serve the workforce at PSNS and IMF, and I look forward to the opening of this new facility that will serve military as well as Navy civilian families here in Bremerton,” Rep. Dicks said.

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