More than child care: Base award winner provides heart
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE — Handling six small children in one’s home is not something everyone could manage, but Malissa Kaye has been doing it for nearly 17 years. Not only can she handle it; she loves and excels at it.
Kaye garnered the 2017 Little Rock Air Force Base Family Child Care Provider of the Year title.
Kaye completed her National Association for Family Child Care re-accreditation, which is the highest Air Force licensing level — making her one of two in the state of Arkansas. Kaye also received a number of other licenses and certifications that are all proudly displayed in her home.
“It does take some time to get all of your certifications, but it’s definitely worth it,” Kaye said.
Kaye and other FCC providers offer a wide variety of services to families, such as extended child care programs. They include home community care-drill duty, extended duty care, pre-deployment care, return-home care and Permanent Change of Station care.
“We set our own hours. Not only do I provide regular child care during the day, but I also provide extended hours, swing shifts, more varied hours, weekends, emergency duty, last minute TDYs (temporary duty assignments), when I’m with kids for weeks at a time,” Kaye said. “We’re able to be really flexible with working around the needs of the parents.”
FCC is a perfect fit for her family.
“Since it’s such a smaller ratio of children, we can work directly with the things the children need to be learning, different skills that need to be developed. There is also less of a germ factor,” Kaye said. “We get to know the families really well, and it builds a strong sense of community.”
When Kaye arrived at the Little Rock Air Force Base in 2007, she was the 24th FCC provider to come on board. Today, she is only one of four care providers offering services for the base.
“We are looking for new providers who love working with children and are looking for a home-based business,” said Jill Lund, 19th Force Support Squadron FCC coordinator.
According to Lund, all training is provided free of charge for the military license to become an FCC provider. A state license is also required now as a result of housing being under proprietary jurisdiction as housing falls under state laws and regulations. The state licensing process does not take long, but background checks are required.
“The Air Force does not charge fees to become licensed, but the requirement for this base is to become state-licensed as well, which does require some small fees, but it’s worth it,” Kaye said.
Kaye strongly encourages anyone who is interested in becoming an FCC provider to please look into it.
“It’s a really great program, and the military provides you with all of the resources you need to get started,” Kaye said.
For information about FCC or becoming an FCC provider, contact Jill Lund at (501) 987-3156.