Photo By Joseph Kumzak | The Association of the United States Army held its annual meeting Oct. 11-13, which...... read more read more
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During its annual meeting, the Association of the United States Army included a military family forum titled “Transforming the Soldier and Family Readiness Systems” on Oct. 12, 2021.
The keynote address was by Patricia M. Barron, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy.
“Families want a voice,” Barron said. “They want a loud voice in how to navigate that journey in what the art of the possible can be, given the parameters of military life. Military family readiness is a ‘system’ of support. When our military families thrive, our nation thrives, too. The theme of our family forum is unit readiness plus family readiness equals operational readiness.”
The six-person panel included Capt. Kimberly J. Elenberg, Director, Total Force Fitness, Health & Incident Response, Enterprise Analytics Support Directorate, Deputy Comptroller, Enterprise Data and Business Performance, U.S. Public Health Service; C. Michael Kline, Chief of Technology and Innovation, Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA); Laura Mitvalsky, Director, Health Promotion and Wellness, Army Public Health Center; Col. Todd Yosick, Deputy Director, Quality of Life Task Force and Chief, Family Programs, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9, U.S. Army; Marcus J. Beauregard, Director, Defense-State Liaison Office, Military Community and Family Policy, U.S. Department of Defense; and Pamela Swan, Vice President, Military Relations and Business Development, Veterans United Home Loans.
Col. Promotable Deydre Teyhen, 20th Chief, Army Medical Specialist Corps, was panel moderator.
Teyhen emphasized the immense responsibility facing those responsible for Army Families. “We haven’t seen a pandemic like this since 1918. We haven’t seen social unrest like this since the 1960s. And we haven’t seen financial distress like this since the Great Depression. The one thing that has been the silver lining on many of our installations is the strength of our military families. We are better together; we are stronger together.”
Teyhen discussed the need for volunteers that support family caregivers, who are often under stress, especially those who care for our “amazing Wounded Warriors.” In March 2020, the Secretary of the Army established a Caregiver Working Group, she said. The working group held its first meeting this April 2020 and has conducted a monthly meeting since that time. Staff principals have the assistance of an advisory group, which consists of one senior spouse and four current caregivers.
The working group needs additional caregivers, Teyhen said, to ensure the working group is an effective and sustainable resource. Additional caregivers will help ensure that the product, the resources and the work the group is doing will meet the needs of the caregivers.
You can volunteer to assist the Caregiver Working Group, Teyhen said. Contact Col. Myron McDaniels (at myron.b.daniel.mil@mail.mil) or Thomas Webb (at thomas.d.webb.civ@mail.mil).
Elenberg discussed building healthy military communities as part of total force fitness and readiness. We know there is an “enduring requirement for the well-being for readiness of our service members and they can’t achieve that without the family being well and being ready,” she said. We need to know where they are doing well and where they are most at risk, she said. Recently, Families had COVID issues and problems with food insecurity. “We can do things better together,” she said.
Beauregard discussed issues that full under the Defense-State Liaison Office such as Licensure laws, military spouse teacher certification, virtual schools and child abuse and neglect reporting. A significant issue is that problem with portability of licensing and certification transferring across state lines, as many certifications are state issued. He said that his office is currently working compacts for the professions of nursing, emergency medical services, physical therapy, audiology and speech language professionals occupational therapy, licensed professional counseling and psychology. The job of his office is to “eliminate barriers” and “help military families transition in and out of states,” he said.
Kline supervises the DODEA virtual schools, the Instructional Design Services Branch, and the Headquarters Education Technology and Information Center instructional systems specialists. “We serve about 70,000 students and 160 schools in 10 different time zones worldwide,” he said. “We employ more than 8,000 teachers.”
Kline focused on the DODEA virtual school. As far back as the 1990s, DODEA had incorporated distance learning models to provide access to difficult-to-access courses for DOD students in remote locations. They expanded to offer full-time virtual options for K-12 students and served more than 11,000 students in the fall of 2020. DODEA continues to offer a full-time virtual option for the fall 2021.
Mitvalsky has oversight of four program areas: health promotion operations, Army wellness centers, public health assessment programs, and integrated health education. Mitvalsky announced the inaugural Health of the Army Family Report. The report details a holistic view of health including factors that impact Army Families quality of life. It also complies what is known—and not known—about Army Family health based on best available evidence and provides actionable recommendations for a range of audiences.
“We all play a critical role in optimizing the health of our Families,” Mitvalski said. “There are more than 650,000 dependents in Army Families. Among the current issues Army Families face are COVID-19 impacts, needs of Army caregivers, childhood lead exposure, and spouse employment, although the entire list is more expansive.”
A critical issue is the Exceptional Family Member Program, when the Family member cannot see a smooth transition to medical care and educational services after permanent change of duty station. “The health and satisfaction of Army Families today directly impacts the future fighting force of our nation. It is our hope that this report will bring attention to these critical areas that have been studied and published in one consolidated place,” said Mitvalsky.
Yosick spoke on “Transforming Soldier and Family Programs.” “The health of the Army is critical to readiness,” Yosick said. “In addition to the normal challenges experienced by most families, military families confront a set of unique challenges due to frequent moves, deployments, separations, strains on relationships due to extended absences, increased responsibility for non-deployed spouses, risk of injury or death to their Soldier, and employment challenges.”
Army Community Services began a number of programs more than 50 years ago to facilitate education and protective factors. It has also been a connection to family support throughout installations.
More recently, the Family Advocacy Program has been providing education and services to strengthen Families, enhance health life skills, and promote nurturing environments for children and youth, with the particular focus on preventing abuse of children. One important area of focus is safe sleep practices for children: “alone, on their back, and in an approved crib,” Yosick said.
Yosick also noted that 43,000 Soldiers, more than 9 percent of all active Soldiers, have at least one family member enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program, which provides comprehensive support to Family members with special needs. The program identifies the special medical or educational needs of the family, a key part of the ‘People First!’ goal of the Army. “Family readiness equals mission readiness,” Yosick said.
Swan discussed the importance of Veterans Administration-supported home loans to Soldiers. Owning a home is critical to family stability, even to improving participation in school opportunities for students. In recent years, VA loans, historically about 2% of all mortgage loans, have increased to about 10 percent. In 2020, there was an all-time record 1.2 million VA loans. VA loans are even available to active duty Soldiers.
Army Families face many issues and significant stress not felt by civilian families. Teyhen concluded by stating that although the Army enlists Soldiers it reenlists families. All the more reason to focus on and support the Army family, because keeping Soldiers on duty is important to readiness.
| Date Taken: | 10.18.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 10.18.2021 17:24 |
| Story ID: | 407494 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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readiness; Army Family readiness; caregivers; Army Medicine
