Fort Irwin Community, Thank you for your patience and professionalism as your Family and Morale Welfare and Recreation Directorate continues to provide programs and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the installation has moved to HPCON-Bravo, we are still on hold with our Youth Sports and Middle School Teen Programs. The priority at this time is to support critical services, such as the Child Development Center (CDC) and School Age Center. Due to the staffing challenges the CDC is facing, childcare services will remain available to essential personnel.
We want to be transparent about the difficulties we are tackling. Under HPCON-Bravo conditions, the CDC can operate at a 75% capacity according to U.S. Army Installation Command. To get to this new capacity allowance, we must have a certain ratio of caregivers to number of children allowed under our care. The fact of the matter is, we do not have enough caregivers to provide childcare at this increased capacity. We want to thank you for your patience and assure you that we are working diligently on this matter. The Garrison Command Team routinely meets with Brigade Command Teams to determine who qualifies as mission
essential and is in need of childcare. Please notify your chain of command if you find that you are challenged with childcare concerns.
With that said, we are working to hire new Child Youth Program Assistants through the Civilian Advisory Personnel Center (CPAC) and just last week we conducted a virtual job fair with some success in our recruitment efforts. In the future, we will be hosting job fairs on a monthly basis in the local High Desert area to expedite hiring caregivers. We also established incentives for caregivers both in-center staff and at home with Family Child Care. Incentives include a 20% reduction in childcare fees for caregiver family members. Additionally, we have allotted a $1000 recruitment and relocation transfer bonus for incoming FCC providers. We
continue to look at other incentives, promotional opportunities and competitive pay. If you are interested in becoming a Child Youth Program Assistant, please go to USAjobs.gov and apply.
If you are looking to volunteer for youth sports, please reach out to our Youth Sports and Fitness department by calling 760-380-7044.
Thank you for your patience and support. We are proud to be part of this community. Fort Irwin Soldiers, Families and Civilians are truly resilient and make this community an exceptional place to work, live and raise a family.
Sincerely,
BRANDI CRIST WILLIAM PAUL
Director Program Operations Specialist for CYS
DFMWR DFMWR
