About Child, Youth and School Services

Our Mission is Caring - Army Child, Youth & School programs exist to support military readiness by reducing the conflict between a Soldier's mission requirements and his or her parental responsibilities.

• Child, Youth & School Services (CYS Services) is an integral part of the Army mission. CYS Services supports the Soldier which in turn enhances Army readiness. In other words, a Soldier can concentrate on his/her mission knowing that their children and youth are safe and supervised by trained and professional staff members while participating in quality developmental programs.
• The Army Soldier's work day is unique due to irregular or extended duty hours, deployments and temporary duty assignments. The challenges for care continue to grow as mission requirements demand more of the modern day Soldier.
• Child, Youth & School Services programs are a direct mission-related necessity to an Army that is 53 percent married; with an additional 7.5 percent who are single parents. Commanders, as well as their Soldiers and Families, consider Army child care and youth programs to be an important quality of life and well-being issue.

Department of Defense (DoD) Certification and National Accreditation are required by the Military Child Care Act to attain and ensure Child, Youth and School (CYS) program quality.

Accreditation: Child Development Centers, School-Age Programs and Family Child Care (FCC) homes are eligible for National Accreditation through an external evaluation process that surpass expectations and provide high quality care for children.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the accrediting body for Army CYS Child Development Centers.

The National AfterSchool Association is the accrediting body for Army CYS School Age programs.

The National Association for Family Child Care is the accrediting body for Army CYS FCC homes.

Certification: DoD Certification, the equivalent of state licensing, is based upon an Army internal evaluation process to ensure Army CYS Child Development Centers, Family Child Care Homes, and School-Age Programs meet required DoD quality standards. All caregivers must meet rigid training, health, and safety standards, and are subject to unannounced inspections.

• Achieve and sustain QUALITY by pursuing nationally-recognized benchmarks and performance standards
• Increase and sustain AVAILABILITY through on- and off- post child care options and supervised programs for youth
• Maintain AFFORDABILITY for both Soldiers and the Army