"I think, for military, finding child care is always a little bit harder. We are frequently in a new place with no family or friends nearby and often facing a deployment. It becomes more challenging," explained Tahara Norton, a military spouse from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It is Norton's own experience as well as her job with the Tacoma Child Care Resource and Referral program that led to her invitation to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies' annual symposium, held in Washington, D.C., in March 2010.

NACCRRA's National Policy Symposium seeks to raise the visibility of child care issues, such as the lack of quality, and advocate for improved conditions. It also allows the 600 attendees the chance to attend a forum for policy analysis and discussion, examination of the latest research, and take part in high-quality training, peer networking, and visits to legislators. This year the parents were also granted a one-on-one meeting with Shannon Rudisill, director of the Child Care Bureau, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

"We realized that members of Congress want to hear from parents and not just advocates of the cause. The parents bring the real world situation to light," said Linda K. Smith, executive director of NACCRRA. The other hope was that the parents in attendance could help to convince Congress that the Childcare and Development Block grant, which has not been reauthorized since 1996, needs to be updated and modernized.

According to Smith, this is only the second year that the symposium has involved parents. Norton, whose husband, Spc. Danny Norton, works with the 1st Signal Corps, has been invited both years.

"We want the parents who attend to become spokespersons within their communities for better child care," Smith said. "And Tahara seems ideal to do just that."

The parents invited come from across the country and all types of lifestyles, not just the military.

"We want to look at child care improvements across the board, but the struggles of military families should be a priority for this country," added Smith. "So it was important to represent that segment."

NACCRRA reports that more than 11 million children under the age of 5 are in some type of child care arrangement every week while their parents work. Although the Department of Defense maintains high quality child care for its military members, that care is available only on base and cannot meet the needs of every military family seeking care for their children.

JBLM is one of only 10 sites that offers the new Army Child Care in Your Neighborhood, or ACCYN, program that serves to provide child care options off-post that are affordable, convenient and meet the Army's rigorous standards. ACCYN is part of the NACCRRA umbrella of programs geared to help parents.

"There is still a lot of progress that needs to be made," said Norton. "The Army has higher standards than most organizations that govern child care, but we need more regulations across the board. That is the goal in my mind."

For more information on local ACCYN child care options, visit www.cityoftacoma.org/ childcare.