Extended Duty Child Care (EDC) at Hanscom Air Force Base

• FREE childcare provided in Family Child Care/Extended Duty Care home
  • children under 12 years
  • a total of 16 hours per child in a 6-month period
• Open to all personnel who routinely deploy on a short-term basis in support of contingency operations
  • Active Duty
  • Air National Guard
  • AF Reserves
  • DoD civilians
• "Short-term" deployments must be minimum of 30 calendar days (cumulative) in a 6-month period

The EDC program assists families in obtaining high-quality child care from licensed or affiliated providers at or near the base when weekly parental workloads, due to extended duty hours, exceed the standard 50 hours of care (typically 10 hours a day or 5-day work week) that families are already purchasing in child care programs on or off base. Families should establish a plan to meet all their child care needs; e.g., short-term TDYs, shift work care where shift work is the typical assignment, family days, deployments, etc. The EDC program should be considered a back-up plan. 

Who is eligible to use EDC?

• Active Duty assigned to or living on the base
• DoD civilians assigned to the base
• Spouses of Active Duty whose spouse is deployed or TDY
• AF Reserve or Air National Guard on active duty

Extended Duty Care can be used:

• On-base mission-related duty
• Extended duty days
• Temporary shift changes (not to exceed 3 days)
• Rapid mobilization
• Dual military or single parent deployment until children are picked up by AF Form 357 designee
  (not to exceed 3 days)
• No-notice/short-notice TDY
• Less than 1-week notice
• If no other family member is available
• If verified with supervisor
• Provides temporary assistance (not to exceed 3 days/calendar year) until other arrangements
  can be found
• Spouse of deployed or TDY member who is experiencing a short-term child care emergency created in part by the duty-related absence of spouse (not to exceed 3 days)
• Requests to exceed the 3-day time limit are sent to the MAJCOM in advance for approval. Confirmation of approval is sent from the MAJCOM to flight chief, FCC coordinator and HQ USAF simultaneously

 Extended Duty Care cannot be used:

• On a regular, recurring basis
• To meet parents’ regular childcare requirements
• To provide shift-work care where shift work is a typical assignment
• Mandatory PT
• To provide hourly care for non-duty-related reasons 
• For off-duty education and employment on a recurring basis
• For holidays, family days, CDC/SAP/FCC home closure, attend/watch air shows, etc.
• FCC providers who have medical appointments, childcare emergencies that impact on their ability to provide childcare or need substitute care (exception: approved by MAJCOM and if EDC provider has
  unused hours)
• Child Development and School-Age staff required to work different shift, longer hours and who have other childcare emergencies that impact on their ability to provide child care (exception: approved by MAJCOM and if EDC Provider has unused hours)
• Family Member Program staff and FCC provider training (exception: approved by MAJCOM and if EDC provider has unused hours — allowed on an extremely limited basis)

How can I use this program?

• Parents must be enrolled in the Extended Duty Care Program to participate
• EDC is provided by a licensed FCC provider who maintains an AF funded contract to cover the cost of extended care
• Shift change care should be prescheduled; unscheduled care is arranged by email and/or phone
• EDC can be provided during the day, evenings and weekends, and is coordinated by the FCC coordinator
• A supervisor must sign a parent statement for each use and have written verification from their supervisor