CDC opens long awaited annex Published June 29, 2007 By Lisa LaConte 1st SOSVS HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The Child Development Center staff, children, families and distinguished guests gathered June 27 to celebrate the grand opening of the long awaited CDC Annex. The opening of the new annex increases the daily capacity of the CDC from 172 children to 226. "Services understands the importance child care has on the effectiveness of the 1st Special Operations Wing mission," said Lt. Col. Lisa Hansen, 1st Special Operations Services Squadron commander. "Opening this annex is great for our Hurlburt community. We know that finding child care can be difficult, especially for infants. This is why we are particularly happy to be able to provide care for infants ages 6 weeks to 6 months for the first time." Once all of the new spaces are filled, an additional 54 child care spaces will have been added. "Having our child in the Hurlburt CDC will be very beneficial to our family," said Capt. Rhonda Crawford, Air Force Special Operations Command. "We currently have to drive a half hour out of our way to take our son to his current child care center, so it's going to ease our daily travel time. It will be nice having him closer to my work." The CDC waiting list is longest for families with children under three years of age; therefore, all 54 spaces will be used to accommodate these younger age groups. This will reduce those waiting lists by approximately 25-30 percent. The CDC also offers, as available, daily hourly care, weekly and monthly "slot leasing" care and is preparing for a third year as a provider in the state funded voluntary pre-kindergarten program. The VPK program accommodates children of full-time working parents as well as children who only need part-time VPK. Although not all child care needs can be met by the CDC, there's a plan in place to assist families in finding child care. Utilizing licensed family child care is an alternative to the CDC and is the first recommendation to families when they place their child on the CDC waiting list. If a child is unable to be placed in a Hurlburt FCC home, Nancy Caison, FCC coordinator, can provide families a referral to quality family child care. This program is a collaborative effort between the Office of Children & Families and the National Association for Child Care Resource and Referral to assist military families in finding child care. In the QFCC program, state licensed or registered FCC providers keep space available for military families needing child care. For more information on family child care, call Ms. Caison at 884-4300. For more information on all CDC programs, call 884-6664.