PUBLIC LAW 104-201—SEPT. 23, 1996 110 STAT. 2643 if they are to perform their jobs and respond effectively to long work hours or deployments. (4) Child care is important to the retention of members of the Armed Forces in military service because the dissatisfaction of the families of such members with military life is a primary reason for the departure of such members from military service. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATED TO MILITARY-CIVILIAN CHILD- CARE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS.—I t is the sense of Congress that— (1) the civilian and military child-care communities, Federal, State, and local agencies, and businesses and communities involved in the provision of child-care services could benefit from the development of partnerships to foster an exchange of ideas, information, and materials relating to their experiences with the provision of such services and to encourage closer relationships between military installations and the communities that support them; (2) such partnerships would be beneficial to all families by helping providers of child-care services exchange ideas about innovative ways to address barriers to the effective provision of such services; and (3) there are many ways that such partnerships could be developed, including— (A) cooperation between the directors and curriculum specialists of military child development centers and civilian child development centers in assisting such centers in the accreditation process; (B) use of family support staff to conduct parent and family workshops for new parents and parents with young children in family housing on military installations and in communities in the vicinity of such installations; (C) internships in Department of Defense child-care programs for civilian child-care providers to broaden the base of good-quality child-care services in communities in the vicinity of military installations; and (D) attendance by civilian child-care providers at Department child-care training classes on a space-available basis. (c) REPORT. —Not later than June 30, 1997, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the status of any partnerships and other initiatives undertaken by the Department of Defense as described in subsection (b), including recommendations for additional ways to improve the child-care programs of the Department of Defense and to improve such programs so as to benefit civilian child-care providers in communities in the vicinity of military installations. SEC. 1044. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MILITARY YOUTH PROGRAMS. (a) FINDINGS. —Congress makes the following findings: (1) Programs of the Department of Defense for youth who are dependents of members of the Armed Forces have not received the same level of attention and resources as have child-care programs of the Department since the passage of the Military Child Care Act of 1989 (originally enacted as title XV of Public Law 101-189 and subsequently codified as subchapter II of chapter 88 of title 10, United States Code).
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