Military officials need to shore up their policies for notifying parents of children allegedly abused or neglected in child development centers, according to a new report from the Defense Department Inspector General.
New DOD rules requiring child development center personnel to notify parents within 24 hours after they learn of an allegation don‘t go far enough, the report states.
As a result, parents or guardians may not be aware of the specifics of allegations involving their children, limiting the potential actions they can take to address the allegations and help their child, according to DOD’s independent watchdog.
During the period of the Inspector General’s evaluation, which began in May 2024, defense officials updated their policy to require notification to these parents or legal guardians within 24 hours after Child and Youth Program officials learn of the allegations.
However, the updated December 2024 policy doesn’t specifically address how the child development center staff should communicate information about the allegation and follow up with parents, or what specific information should be shared.
The services also need to maintain files of all notification documentation, according to the report.
Military child development centers provide child care for children from birth to age 5, but may also offer school-age care.
This report is the first to be published from an Inspector General evaluation of DOD child development centers. An upcoming report will focus on the services’ implementation of policies to verify that child abuse allegations were appropriately addressed at certain child development centers.
In response to this report, defense personnel officials agreed that the policy will be revised by Sept. 30 to require the military services to follow a uniform procedure to identify, notify and report child abuse and neglect allegations to parents in all DOD-sanctioned activities, including child development centers.
Army, Navy and Marine Corps officials replied that they will update their policies once defense officials issue theirs. The Navy’s target completion date for their new policy is April 30, 2026, and the Marine Corps’ is April 1, 2026. Air Force officials hadn’t yet provided a response to the report’s recommendations.
Army officials told inspectors that parents are immediately notified within 24 hours of any alleged or suspected incident, and that their regulations are being revised to include parental notifications with written incident reports for child abuse or neglect allegations.
Navy officials said parents must be notified in person or verbally by telephone within 24 hours of an incident, and written parental notification is required within 48 hours. A specific form isn’t required.
Marine Corps officials require notification within 24 hours, but officials told inspectors they don’t tell installations how to provide the communication. Air Force officials are in the process of revising their regulations to require notification of parents within 24 hours.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
