As a city with a large population of military families, San Antonio is hit especially hard by the military child care shortage that’s causing thousands of families to remain waitlisted. Many child care programs have shut their doors in recent years, contributing to the shortage.
Expanding access to high-quality early education for San Antonio’s children and families is at the core of Pre-K 4 SA’s mission. In order to meet this community’s unique needs, Pre-K 4 SA has made ending the military child care crisis in San Antonio a priority. This includes giving military-affiliated families living in Military City USA priority enrollment and sharing resources with other child care providers around the city in order to better serve them.
For years, Pre-K 4 SA has worked with Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) to expand resources for military families. To further accelerate progress in this area, these two entities recently created a formal partnership to better address the military community’s child care needs.
As part of this agreement, Pre-K 4 SA and JBSA will collaborate and strategize ways to support each other’s missions, leverage resources to increase access to high-quality early learning, and monitor and report progress toward shared goals.
Pre-K 4 SA and JBSA professionals will provide each other with high-quality, specialized training. JBSA will include Pre-K 4 SA in its Workforce and Transition Alliance, which helps connect transitioning military members and their families with skills training and career resources. Pre-K 4 SA will also explore additional transportation options for military children and provide JBSA with materials to inform military families about Pre-K 4 SA availability.
“This strengthened partnership between JBSA and Pre-K 4 SA directly aligns with our strategic goal of building a strong and equitable early learning ecosystem in San Antonio,” said Dr. Sarah Baray, Pre-K 4 SA CEO. “Pre-K 4 SA is honored to serve our military families by ensuring they have access to the nurturing environment and opportunities they deserve, so they can focus on mission readiness when they are called to serve our country”
One goal of this partnership is to expand the number of qualified providers participating in the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN) and MCCYN+ programs. These programs help military families by subsidizing child care when they’re not able to access military-operated child care services.
Pre-K 4 SA can help expand the network of MCCYN(+) providers by providing resources and professional training to child care centers and at-home providers around the city through the Early Learning Shared Services Alliance of San Antonio, helping them meet the eligibility requirements.
To learn more, read the press release and some of the media coverage around this new partnership:
- City of San Antonio Official Press Release: Joint Base San Antonio and Pre-K 4 SA Announce Partnership
- KSAT: Joint Base San Antonio, Pre-K 4 SA create partnership to support military families with child care
- KENS 5: New JBSA and Pre-K 4 SA partnership aimed at expanding childcare availability to military families
