This article by Rose L. Thayer originally appeared on Stripes.com. Stars and Stripes serves the U.S. military community by providing editorially independent news and information around the world.

The National Guard Bureau has launched a second pilot program to offer soldiers in certain states child care during drill weekends after the first attempt launched nearly two years ago failed.

Participation was “low” when the Guard first started the program because there weren’t enough weekend care providers available, Julie Lockwood, vice director or manpower and personnel for the bureau, wrote in an emailed response to questions about the program.

Lockwood wrote the problem with the initial pilot stemmed from using a contractor that did not have weekend child care providers. The contract with that company, Child Care Aware of America, ended June 30, she said.

A new contract was established June 1 with the city of West Liberty, Iowa, and Upwards, one of the nation’s largest networks of child care facilities. Instead of being available to soldiers in six states, the new contract is open to soldiers in 20 states, according to a news release issued in May.

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The Guard initially launched the pilot in September 2022 after service-wide surveys found that finding child care during drill weekends was a barrier for many parents who would like to remain in the National Guard, the bureau said at the time.

About 35% of Army National Guard troops, or roughly 118,000 soldiers, have children, and about 9% are single parents. They account for 36,000 children younger than age 12, according to the bureau.

In addition to a lack of access to care, soldiers also complained the initial pilot program had “cumbersome registration and eligibility verification processes,” which the new program is supposed to alleviate, Lockwood wrote. The National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon-based agency that provides federal oversight to state Guards, declined to provide an official to be interviewed directly about the program.

The program is free for soldiers and there is no cost to participating states, though Lockwood declined to answer how much the program costs the Guard Bureau.

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The 20 states where troops are eligible are Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

These were chosen based on their compliance with Defense Department licensing and inspection requirements and coverage from the first pilot program as well as the number of troops in the state, Lockwood said.

To use the free child care, soldiers must be in good standing with their unit and affirm that no other adult within the household is available to provide care.

Children going to care must be registered with the military as a dependent and be between 6 weeks and 12 years old.