CHILD CARE EMPLOYEES

SEC. 1503. CHILD CARE EMPLOYEES (a) Required Training.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall establish, and prescribe regulations to implement, a training program for child care employees. Those regulations shall apply uniformly among the military departments. Subject to paragraph (2), satisfactory completion of the training program shall be a condition of employment of any person as a child care employee. (2) Under those regulations, the Secretary shall require that each child care employee complete the training program not later than six months after the date on which the employee is employed as a child care employee (except that, in the case of a child care employee hired before the date on which the training program is established, the Secretary shall require that the employee complete the program not later than six months after that date). (3) The training program established under this subsection shall cover, at a minimum, training in the following: (A) Early childhood development. (B) Activities and disciplinary techniques appropriate to children of different ages. (C) Child abuse prevention and detection. (D) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency medical procedures. (b) Training and Curriculum Specialists.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall require that at least one employee at each military child development center be a specialist in training and curriculum development. The Secretary shall ensure that such employees have appropriate credentials and experience. (2) The duties of such employees shall include the following (A) Special teaching activities at the center. (B) Daily oversight and instruction of other child care employees at the center, (C) Daily assistance in the preparation of lesson plans. (D) Assistance in the center’s child abuse prevention and detection program. (E) Advising the director of the center on the performance of other child care employees. (3) Each employee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an employee in a competitive service position. (c) Program To Test Competitive Rates of Pay.—(1) For the purpose of improving the capability of the Department of Defense to provide military child development centers with a qualified and stable civilian workforce, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct a program as provided in this subsection to increase the compensation of child care employees. The Secretary shall begin the program not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act. The program shall be in effect for a period of at least two years. (2) The program shall apply to all child care employees who— (A) are directly involved in providing child care; and (B) are paid from nonappropriated funds. (3) Under the program, child care employees at a military installation who are described in paragraph (2) shall be paid— (A) in the case of entry-level employees, at rates of pay competitive with the rates of pay paid to other entry-level employees at that installation who are drawn from the same labor pool; and 103 STAT. 1592 (B) in the case of other employees, at rates of pay substantially equivalent to the rates of pay paid to other employees at that installation with similar training, seniority, and experience. (d) Employment Preference Test Program for Military Spouses.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a test program under which qualified spouses of members of the Armed Forces shall be given a preference in hiring for the position of child care employee in a position paid from nonappropriated funds if the spouse is among persons determined to be best qualified for the position. A spouse who is provided a preference under this subsection at a military child development center may not be precluded from obtaining another preference, in accordance with section 806 of the Military Family Act of 1985 (10 U.S.C. 113 note), in the same geographical area as the military child development center. (2) The test program under this subsection shall run concurrently with the program under subsection (c). (e) Report on Compensation and Spouse Employment Preference Programs.—Not later than March 1, 1991, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the programs under subsections (c) and (d). The report shall include the findings of the Secretary concerning the effect of each of the programs on the quality of child care provided in military child development centers and the effect of the spouse employment preference program on employee turnover at such centers. (f) Additional Child Care Positions.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall make available for child care programs of the Department of Defense, not later than September 30, 1990, at least 1,000 competitive service positions in addition to the number of competitive service positions in such programs as of September 30, 1989. During fiscal year 1991, the Secretary shall make available to child care programs of the Department additional competitive service positions so that the number of competitive service positions in such programs as of September 30, 1991, is at least 3,700 greater than the number of competitive service positions in such programs as of September 30, 1989. (2) The Secretary may waive the increase otherwise required by the second sentence of paragraph (1) to the extent that the Secretary determines that such increase is not executable. If the Secretary issues such a waiver, the Secretary shall promptly submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the waiver. Any such report shall specify the number of such positions waived and the reasons for the waiver. (3) The additional positions provided for in paragraph (1), and the workyears associated with those positions, that are used outside the United States shall not be counted for purpose of applying any limitation on the total number of positions or workyears, respectively, available to the Department of Defense outside the United States (or any limitation on the availability of appropriated funds for such positions or workyears for any fiscal year). (g) Competitive Service Position Defined.—For purposes of this section, the term “competitive service position” means a position in the competitive service, as defined in section 2102(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code.