{"id":29225,"date":"2026-02-05T12:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T17:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=29225"},"modified":"2026-02-05T12:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T17:05:05","slug":"sen-ossoff-launching-inquiry-into-implementation-of-childcare-programs-at-augusta-va-medical-center","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-launching-inquiry-into-implementation-of-childcare-programs-at-augusta-va-medical-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Ossoff Launching Inquiry into Implementation of Childcare Programs at Augusta VA Medical Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Augusta, Ga. <\/strong>\u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is launching an inquiry into the implementation of childcare programs at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2021, Congress passed the Johnny Isakson and David P. Row Act<\/em>, which mandated that each VA Medical Center implement a childcare assistance program by January 4, 2026. Now, Sen. Ossoff is seeking updates on the implementation of this program at the Augusta VA Medical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff is seeking answers from the Acting Executive Director of the Augusta VA Medical Center on the status of implementing the Veterans Child Care Assistance Program (VCAP), a program aimed at making it easier for Georgia veterans to access health care by reducing the difficulty of finding childcare during medical appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2024 study found<\/a> that more than 75% of veterans indicated that they needed childcare assistance during health care appointments, with 73% reporting barriers to finding childcare. These challenges can lead to missed medical appointments and worse health care outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI write to inquire about the implementation status of the Veterans Child Care Assistance Program (VCAP),\u201d Sen. Ossoff wrote to Augusta VAMC Acting Executive Director Lovetta Ford<\/strong>. \u201cThis program will help Georgia veterans access VA medical care without having to find childcare during their appointments. With the deadline for implementation having now passed, I am interested in learning what your facility has done to support this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff continues working to support Georgia\u2019s veterans and military families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, Sen. Ossoff demanded answers<\/a> after the Trump Administration gutted support for children with special needs in Department of Defense schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, Sen. Ossoff pressed<\/a> VA Secretary Doug Collins about leadership challenges at the Augusta VA impacting veterans\u2019 care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan Gold Star Children Education Act<\/em> was signed into law<\/a> to support the education of children after the loss of a parent who served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in 2024, Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan\u00a0Military Families Mental Health Services Act\u00a0<\/em>became law<\/a>\u00a0as part of that year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act<\/em>\u00a0to expand access to counseling and mental health services for military families in Georgia and nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Sen. Ossoff urged<\/a> the Veterans Health Administration to establish a Women\u2019s Health Center of Excellence at the VA Augusta Health Care System in Augusta, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to read Sen. Ossoff\u2019s full letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Augusta, Ga. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is launching an inquiry into the implementation of childcare programs at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta. In early 2021, Congress passed the Johnny Isakson and David P. Row Act, which mandated that each VA Medical Center implement a childcare assistance program by January 4, 2026. Now, Sen. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29225","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29229,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29225\/revisions\/29229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}