[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.A.S.C. No. 111-85]
OVERSIGHT OF FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS
__________
HEARING
BEFORE THE
MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD
JULY 22, 2009
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MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE
SUSAN A. DAVIS, California, Chairwoman
VIC SNYDER, Arkansas JOE WILSON, South Carolina
LORETTA SANCHEZ, California WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina
MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam JOHN KLINE, Minnesota
PATRICK J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania THOMAS J. ROONEY, Florida
HANK JOHNSON, Georgia MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma
CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire JOHN C. FLEMING, Louisiana
DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa
NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts
Debra Wada, Professional Staff Member
Jeanette James, Professional Staff Member
Rosellen Kim, Staff Assistant
C O N T E N T S
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CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS
2009
Page
Hearing:
Wednesday, July 22, 2009, Oversight of Family Support Programs... 1
Appendix:
Wednesday, July 22, 2009......................................... 31
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009
OVERSIGHT OF FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS
STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Davis, Hon. Susan A., a Representative from California,
Chairwoman, Military Personnel Subcommittee.................... 1
Wilson, Hon. Joe, a Representative from South Carolina, Ranking
Member, Military Personnel Subcommittee........................ 2
WITNESSES
Kent, Sgt. Maj. Carlton W., USMC, Sergeant Major of the Marine
Corps.......................................................... 7
Lyman, Col. Cory, USAF, Assistant Director, Individual and Family
Support Policy, Office of Secretary of Defense Reserve Affairs,
U.S. Department of Defense..................................... 4
Myers, Arthur J., Principal Director Military Community and
Family Policy, Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and
Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense.......................... 3
Preston, Sgt. Maj. Kenneth O., USA, Sergeant Major of the Army... 5
Roy, Chief Master Sgt. James A., USAF, Chief Master Sergeant of
the Air Force.................................................. 9
West, Master Chief Petty Officer Rick D., USN, Master Chief Petty
Officer of the Navy............................................ 8
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Davis, Hon. Susan A.......................................... 35
Kent, Sgt. Maj. Carlton W.................................... 88
Lyman, Col. Cory............................................. 66
Myers, Arthur J.............................................. 39
Preston, Sgt. Maj. Kenneth O................................. 74
Roy, Chief Master Sgt. James A............................... 119
West, Master Chief Petty Officer Rick D...................... 110
Wilson, Hon. Joe............................................. 38
Documents Submitted for the Record:
Statement of the Fleet Reserve Association on Support for
Military Family Programs Policies and Initiatives.......... 135
Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:
Mr. Wilson................................................... 145
Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:
Mrs. Davis................................................... 149
OVERSIGHT OF FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS
----------
House of Representatives,
Committee on Armed Services,
Military Personnel Subcommittee,
Washington, DC, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:01 p.m., in
room 2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Susan Davis
(chairwoman of the subcommittee) presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
CALIFORNIA, CHAIRWOMAN, MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE
Mrs. Davis. Good afternoon. Our hearing will come to order.
I want to welcome all our witnesses. Today, we will turn
our attention on the multitude of family support programs
within the Services and the Department of Defense (DOD).
While we have focused on several of these issues in the
past, this is the first subcommittee hearing in over a decade
that will solely focus on family support programs that are so
important and vital to our military families during these
challenging times.
The burden of eight years of conflict have not only fallen
on our servicemembers. A large portion of that burden has also
fallen on their families, as well. And, unfortunately, their
plight is often overshadowed.
While the majority of Americans have been outstanding in
their support of our men and women in uniform, sadly, the
majority of military families in a recent survey revealed about
94 percent of military families felt that the average American
does not understand the sacrifices these families are making.
The toll is especially significant on those most
vulnerable: our military children. The number of military
children who are seeking mental health care since the start of
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) has more than doubled. And many
children are being forced to wait months to receive treatment
because access to care is not sufficient.
However, mental health is just one area where there are
challenges. As we have found, there are issues that affect
servicemembers going through the deployment process, pre-,
during and post-deployment. And while their issues are slightly
different, military families face their own set of hurdles
during each phase, as well, and it is our responsibility to
ensure that we work to address these issues and support our
families as we do our men and women in uniform.
I do not mean to imply at all that nothing has been done
for families. Quite the contrary, the Services and the
Department have undertaken significant effort--extraordinary in
many cases--to improve programs and assistance for military
families.
But there is more that can and must be done to support all
of those who defend our Nation, and that includes our military
families.
Today, we have asked the senior enlisted representatives
from each of the Services to be with us. As the eyes and ears
of their individual force, they know and understand what is
happening on the ground level.
We have also asked a representative from Reserve Affairs to
be here to provide the perspective of the unique challenges
Reserve and National Guard families face, as well as a
representative from the Department who is responsible for all
of these programs.
So let me introduce our witnesses.
Mr. Art Myers, principal director military community and
family policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Personnel
and Readiness, welcome.
Colonel Cory Lyman, assistant director, individual and
family support policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense for
Reserve Affairs.
Sergeant Major Kenneth Preston, sergeant major of the Army.
Sergeant Major Carlton Kent, sergeant major of the Marine
Corps.
And Master Chief Petty Officer Rick West, master chief
petty officer of the Navy.
And Chief Master Sergeant James Roy, chief master sergeant
of the Air Force.
Gentlemen, welcome. We are very pleased that you are here.
I will ask you to testify in the order that I just
introduced you. And without objection, all written statements
will be included in the record. Thank you once again for being
here today, and we look forward to a very productive hearing.
[The prepared statement of Mrs. Davis can be found in the
Appendix on page 35.]
Mrs. Davis. Mr. Wilson, do you have any comments?
STATEMENT OF HON. JOE WILSON, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM SOUTH
CAROLINA, RANKING MEMBER, MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE
Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Chairwoman Davis, for holding this
hearing. And thank you to each of our--today's panel.
And I am particularly pleased to see the senior enlisted
personnel from the Services, and I know that one of my sons is
a doctor in the Navy, and I am very grateful that he has
provided for his chief noncommissioned officer (NCO) at the
Portsmouth Naval Hospital to now be an intern in our office
this month. So we appreciate what--what you do for our country.
Meeting the needs of military families has never been more
challenging or complex. We are a Nation at war, fighting on two
fronts, and the strains of those wars translate directly and
immediately to the families of the members of the Armed Forces.
When you disrupt the military family unit by deploying a
key member of that family, a host of issues arise that stress
all aspects of family life: economic, physical, and mental
health, personal finances, interpersonal relationships, and
many more areas.
This subcommittee, the Department of Defense, and the
military services have taken any number of initiatives to
address the needs of military families. During my 31 years of
service with the Army Reserve and Army National Guard as a
legal assistance Judge Advocate General (JAG), I conducted pre-
mobilization legal counseling and will preparation statewide.
I appreciate what efforts have been made for military
families, which I know firsthand as a veteran and as the
grateful father of four sons currently serving in the military.
Yet, despite all that has been accomplished, there remains
evidence that the family support system may not be completely
effective. While I know that the Department of Defense and the
military services are committed to assisting and supporting
military families, I am not convinced that the provision of
those services is fully coordinated and integrated.
So I am interested in hearing from our witnesses as to how
effective the coordination and integration is. Also, I am
interested in hearing where we must provide additional effort
in the form of policy or resources to improve what already is
being done.
With that, Madam Chairwoman, I join you in welcoming our
witnesses, and I look forward to their testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Wilson can be found in the
Appendix on page 38.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wilson.
I believe that we had asked our witnesses if they could try
and condense their remarks into about three minutes, then that
will allow for a lot of dialogue between the members and
yourselves. I would appreciate that.
So without objection, I ask unanimous consent that the
written testimony from the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) be
included in the record, and we are delighted to begin.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
on page 135.]
Mrs. Davis. Mr. Myers, would you please proceed, Mr. Myers.
STATEMENT OF ARTHUR J. MYERS, PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR MILITARY
COMMUNITY AND FAMILY POLICY, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE,
PERSONNEL AND READINESS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Mr. Myers. Chairwoman Davis, Representative Wilson, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, the Secretary of
Defense and all the men and women of the Armed Forces, as well
as their families, thank you for your strong support. We are
very appreciative that you are holding this hearing.
Our Military OneSource program is well tailored for its
individually tailored services and its availability anytime
from any place, which is particularly helpful for those who are
geographically isolated from installation support.
This program offers face-to-face non-medical counseling for
military members and their families experiencing the normal
stress of multiple deployments and reunions, as well as
financial assistance and health and wellness coaching.
Additionally, we have placed military family life
consultants in schools, selected by the military departments,
to provide consultation, education, training and workshops to
faculty, parents and children to help cope with deployments. We
now have 399 military life consultants at our childcare and
youth programs and summer camps.
We are also assisting spouses to develop portable careers
by offering military spouse career advancement accounts for
credentialing and licensure. This initiative began in March,
and already 34,000 military spouses have established accounts,
and almost half who have started training are seeking careers
in health professions.
We appreciate the Congress's focus on military families who
have children with autism. However, we need your support to
expand this attention to all military families with special
needs, not only those with autism.
Military families with special needs encounter multiple
challenges navigating the maze of health care, education, and
community support services they face each time they move.
Several years ago, the Congress granted temporary authority for
minor military construction of child development centers that
allowed us to accelerate childcare capacity and increase spaces
by 15,000 on a rapid basis.
To meet our goals for childcare and to keep our members fit
to fight and win, we require a similar authority for fitness
centers and family centers and for childcare for children
through 12 years of age. We need to extend the authority which
ends this fiscal year through fiscal year 2012 and also
increase the project threshold to $15 million.
In addition, we need to eliminate the barriers to our
partnerships with military community providers of childcare,
such as relief from the Service Contract Act. Your staff has
been very supportive of these initiatives and has contacted the
committees with oversight of these areas for assistance.
We appreciate your concern about ensuring continuity on
program delivery and your understanding of our efforts and
importance of moving the overseas contingency operations
funding into the baseline funding budget.
Thank you again for your strong support of the military
members and their families. Those of you who are members of the
Baby and Children Caucuses further represent the best interests
and needs of all military children. I will be happy to respond
to any of your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Myers can be found in the
Appendix on page 39.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you very much.
Colonel Lyman.
STATEMENT OF COL. CORY LYMAN, USAF, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR,
INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY SUPPORT POLICY, OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE RESERVE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Colonel Lyman. Chairwoman Davis, Congressman Wilson, and
members of the subcommittee, thank you for your invitation to
discuss the status of family programs from the Reserve Affairs
perspective.
National Guard and Reserve members and their families are
geographically dispersed throughout America's communities. They
have unique issues and opportunities. The Department is
committed to support Reserve members and their families through
policies that maintain strong family programs and through
innovative efforts, such as the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration
Program.
Great responsibilities have been placed on the shoulders of
Guard and Reserve members and their families. On behalf of the
Department of Defense, I express deep appreciation for the
unflagging support given by this committee to the care and the
support of dedicated and patriotic Reserve Component members
and to their marvelous families who also serve and sacrifice.
Reserve Component families address family needs--excuse me.
Reserve Component family programs address family needs that
differ in meaningful ways from active component families. For
instance, Guard and Reserve families are community-based and
connected. They are also dispersed geographically across some
4,000 communities nationwide. These realities create challenges
and also offer great opportunities to link with community
resources.
To help Reserve Component members through the deployment
cycle, the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program was developed.
This program is focused on the Reserve Component member, and it
works hand in hand with the family program to enhance family
readiness, and it helps to smooth many of the potential
challenges of military deployments.
The Department is committed to the success of this Yellow
Ribbon Reintegration Program, and we appreciate this
committee's continued support of this visionary program.
We will continue to collaborate with the many agencies and
programs that help deliver critical family programs and Yellow
Ribbon resources to every Guard and Reserve member and their
family members nationwide. And, again, we are grateful for your
essential interest and support.
And I look forward to answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Colonel Lyman can be found in
the Appendix on page 66.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you very much.
Sergeant Major Preston.
STATEMENT OF SGT. MAJ. KENNETH O. PRESTON, USA, SERGEANT MAJOR
OF THE ARMY
Sergeant Major Preston. Chairwoman Davis, Representative
Wilson, committee members, thank you for the opportunity to sit
before you today and represent the men and women of America's
Army.
On behalf of more than 1.1 million men and women serving in
the Army and their 814,000 family members, I want to thank you
for your support. This committee has and continues to take care
of our All-Volunteer Force who serve our Nation with loyalty,
pride and honor.
I have brought three soldiers with me today to help answer
your questions and to further help you help our warriors and
their families.
First, the command sergeant major for the Army Reserve,
Command Sergeant Major Leon Caffie, who serves as the senior
enlisted adviser for Lieutenant General Jack C. Stultz, the
chief of the Army Reserve.
The interim command sergeant major for the Army National
Guard, Command Sergeant Major Victor Angry, who serves as the
senior enlisted adviser for the acting director of the Army
National Guard, Major General Raymond Carpenter.
These two command sergeant majors represent more than
560,000 soldiers and their families in the Army National Guard
and the Army Reserve.
I also have with me Sergeant Joel Dulashanti, who hails
from Cincinnati, Ohio. Sergeant Dulashanti is 22 years old and
enlisted in the Army in 2005. He deployed to Afghanistan along
the Pakistan border in January of 2007. He performed operations
as a sniper out of several forward operating bases, including
Salerno, Tillman, and Warrior.
On the 4th of May, 2007, he was caught in an ambush during
a recon and was shot through both his left and right knees and
his stomach. He is an above-the-knee amputee on his right leg,
and he now works in the office of the legislative liaison, and
he hangs out with me when I get the chance to come over here to
Capitol Hill.
The mission of the Army is to fight and win our Nation's
wars. Today, the American soldier brings unmatched skills in
defending our Nation and our allies around the world. We
currently have more than 260,000 soldiers currently forward
deployed to 80 countries around the world. The large majority
of these soldiers are forward-deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan
in brigade combat teams, multifunctional brigades, functional
brigades, and other force-enabling units.
Additionally, 260,000 Army civilians are performing
critical missions in support of the Army.
During the past year, I traveled to visit, speak and listen
to soldiers and their families all over the world. Soldiers and
family members routinely list access to quality medical care as
their biggest concern. One of the major accessibility
challenges to getting quality medical care is finding
sufficient health care providers outside our military
installations who accept TRICARE payment. As one health care
provider said, ``I take TRICARE cases out of charity to help
the Services.''
Limited numbers of health care providers especially hurt
our soldiers and families in geographically dispersed
locations. While TRICARE is meeting their established standards
for care available, I recommend a review of those standards to
ensure they meet the needs of soldiers and families serving
today at a higher operational pace.
In closing, the centerpiece of our commitment to soldiers
and their families is the Army Family Covenant, which we
launched in October of 2007, and the Army Community Covenant,
which we launched in 2008. Both of these initiatives
institutionalize and fund the programs supporting our soldiers
and their families with the support that is commensurate to the
quality service they provide to the Nation.
Madam Chairwoman Davis, committee members, thank you. And I
look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Sergeant Major Preston can be
found in the Appendix on page 74.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
And I also want to thank the soldiers who have accompanied
you today. And we look forward, if you would like to say
something, to respond to our questions, we would welcome that.
Thank you.
Sergeant Major Kent.
STATEMENT OF SGT. MAJ. CARLTON W. KENT, USMC, SERGEANT MAJOR OF
THE MARINE CORPS
Sergeant Major Kent. Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member
Wilson, and the distinguished members of the subcommittee,
thank you for this opportunity to report on the status of our
family support programs that affect the quality of life and the
well-beings of our Marines and families.
As I travel around to see our units, both--they are
deployed and at home stations, I continue to find highly
motivated and dedicated warriors who know that they are doing
important work for our Nation.
The Marines are fighting our Nation's battles on all
fronts, to include, you know, deployed aboard naval vessels and
at every U.S. embassy throughout the world. They are truly
living up to our motto of ``semper fidelis,'' always faithful,
to our Nation and our corps.
They also know that the Nation loves them and supports
them. They also know that the family support programs that we
speak about today is evidence of your continued support to our
Marines who are in a high operational tempo. These programs are
critical to addressing the quality-of-life needs of our
families.
I firmly believe that the well-being of the Marines and
their families have an impact on the readiness and the
retention of our corps.
The rigors of military life are challenging to the Marines,
especially to their families, who have to cope with
separations, relocations, and sometimes isolations. These
stresses are heightened during wartime and compounded by the
Nation's issues, such as the state of our economy.
The commandant has stated that Marines and our families
have a reasonable expectation that the corps and the Nation
will take care of them, and we continue to ensure that we live
up to that commitment.
In support of these programs is to provide the Marines and
our families certain things to overcome the challenges that
they face each and every day.
Thank you for the long-lasting support, and I would be
happy to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Sergeant Major Kent can be found
in the Appendix on page 88.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
Master Chief Petty Officer West.
STATEMENT OF MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER RICK D. WEST, USN,
MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER OF THE NAVY
Master Chief Petty Officer West. Chairwoman Davis,
Congressman Wilson, distinguished members of this committee,
thank you for this opportunity to testify before you today. I
consider this a distinct honor and privilege, not to mention
one of the most important aspects of my position as a master
chief petty officer in the Navy.
I, like you, understand and very much appreciate that there
is a definite linkage between the safety, security, and well-
being of our families and our services' ability to execute the
mission.
Our family members, those men, women and children who
support our sailors, are both brave and strong. They are
resilient and resourceful. And without a doubt, they are as
every bit as dedicated and patriotic as those of us that wear
the cloth of our Nation.
They, more than anyone, fully understand that when their
loved ones cross the bow of a Navy ship or deploys with one of
our many units or squadrons, they become mom and dad, auto
mechanic, handyman, and financial manager. Yet they and we
often overlook is the fact that they are not alone.
There are a myriad of programs and personnel standing by to
support, which is the focus of our discussion today. It is a
function of leadership to ensure our families are given the
kind of quality of service they deserve. Just as important, we
must inform and educate them as to the resources that are
available. In doing so, our sailors have piece of mind and the
ability to focus on their job knowing their families are safe
and secure.
We have programs in place that were created to assist our
families in almost any situation. Through our fleet and family
support centers--though our fleet and family support centers
promote self-reliance, their cadre of outstanding staff
personnel, along with our dedicated ombudsman, are at the ready
to lend assistance or provide referral as needed. Each is
engaged as I have ever seen.
It has been stressing to every level of Navy leadership--I
have been stressing to every level of Navy leadership that we
can't expect our Navy families to find out about these programs
on their own. We have made great strides in improving our
family programs, as well as communicating the efforts, yet
there is still a great deal to be done.
We must continue to ensure that every family member knows
where to find information about emergency preparedness and
other programs that encourage family readiness.
Additionally, we often focus our efforts in fleet
concentration areas. However, we must also be mindful of family
members who depart or reside outside of these areas where
traditionally sailors deploy, distancing themselves from the
traditional means of Navy support. And I am confident that we
are continuing to make improvements in these areas.
Madam Chairwoman, our families have learned to live with
the anxiety of war and stress of the military lifestyle. We
understand and accept it. But that doesn't mean leadership
shouldn't continue to do whatever we can to lessen that stress,
for I firmly believe that how we support the families of those
we send into harm's way defines us as a Nation.
On behalf of our sailors and their families, I would like
to thank you for the role each of you has and will continue to
play in ensuring our Navy families are well supported and shown
the level of appreciation they deserve.
[The prepared statement of Master Chief Petty Officer West
can be found in the Appendix on page 110.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you very much.
Chief Master Sergeant Roy.
And I want to thank you all for staying within that very
short timeframe.
STATEMENT OF CHIEF MASTER SGT. JAMES A. ROY, USAF, CHIEF MASTER
SERGEANT OF THE AIR FORCE
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. Chairwoman Davis, Representative
Wilson, members of this distinguished subcommittee, I
appreciate very much the opportunity to speak with you today
about the issues important to our airmen and their families.
I would like to first thank you, Chairwoman, and the
members of this committee and the entire House of
Representatives for the extensive support our airmen and their
families receive from you. We especially thank you for your
visits to our wounded warriors. Our wounded warriors and their
families who support and care for them sacrifice much.
Our American airmen have answered our Nation's call. No
matter whether they are deployed overseas in contingency
operations or whether they are deployed in places as a
stateside base in support of the combatant command's
requirements, our airmen are doing an incredible job.
Their families also serve. They support and care for their
own airmen, volunteering across the spectrum of support
activities and--and comfort other members of their family who
experience an often absent parent or spouse. Yes, our military
families serve honorably.
Developing and caring for our airmen families are one of
our top priorities. We have focused much on our efforts in this
area. Some of our recent initiatives have concentrated on
expanding childcare capacity, increasing childcare for Guard
and Reserve families, improving financial readiness, and
improving education and development opportunities for spouses
and children.
Our airmen are experiencing an increased deployment
schedule, so we are also providing an increased deployment
support, not only for our airmen, but also specifically for
family members. We offer programs and services across every
phase of deployment.
We have more than 14,000 families with special needs
requirements enrolled in our special needs program, the
Exceptional Family Member Program. We have a good process for
identifying families and facilitating personnel moves in
assignments based on a special needs family requirement.
However, we have determined the need for a companion
program to provide family support as they move from location to
location. We are improving our program to assist these
families.
We are also working to level the playing field of our
military children who experience differences in academic
standards and transfer and acceptance of course credits. We are
also concerned with viable elementary grade level promotions,
graduation requirements, as well as eligibility in sports and
extracurricular activity.
We are working with states to loosen up the eligibility of
unemployment compensation for our military spouses who are
compelled to leave their job and be with their airmen. We are
working to provide opportunities to train and license in
portable career fields to abbreviate the job search timeframe
for their spouse.
We will remain engaged in our family support programs, and
we plan to consistently improve these programs that we already
have in effect.
Thank you again for your continued support of our United
States Air Force. And on behalf of America's airmen and their
families, we appreciate the opportunity to be here today.
I look forward to any of your questions.
[The prepared statement of Chief Master Sergeant Roy can be
found in the Appendix on page 119.]
Mrs. Davis. Thank you. Thank you to all of you.
I wanted to start with the statistic that I gave at the
beginning of my talk. And, quite frankly, when I was in a
meeting with many, many different spouses representing a number
of different organizations, they shared the statistic that 94
percent of the American people do not understand the sacrifices
that they are making.
You have spoken about a number of initiatives that we have.
And I applaud them, and I know the members of the committee do,
as well. I mean, there has been tremendous progress made. And
yet, you know, there is this sense.
And I wonder if you could just reflect on that. What do you
think that represents? And what should we be doing, what should
the Services be doing to perhaps change that feeling that
somehow it is partly isolation and maybe there are--what do you
think it reflects that so many of our families would feel that
way, despite the fact that there are a number of initiatives
that are there to help them and support them?
Mr. Myers, you want to start?
Mr. Myers. Well, what I believe is, I think the American
public, it focuses on the military, per se. You know, when Mrs.
Obama, when during the campaign, we had a meeting in the White
House, and she indicated to us, she went around and met with
normal families, and these family members would tell them of
the sacrifices, the things they have to do, because the economy
and so--well, then she talked to a military spouse about not
beside only that, they had these continued deployments and so
forth.
So she didn't realize that the military family faced that
many challenges. When I was in military, I did all my tours in
Vietnam. I can tell you, there was hardly any focus on
families. And I remember in Vietnam--when we left Vietnam, we
went back, there was not the support we have today.
So I think, little by little, people are becoming aware of,
it is just not the military member that serves. It is the
entire, entire family. And I think it is catching on, but we
have a long way to go.
But having these type hearings, having Mrs. Obama, Dr.
Biden, and so forth talking about it, I think people are
starting to get educated and understand the sacrifices our
military members and their families make.
Mrs. Davis. Anybody else like to comment?
Colonel Lyman. I would make a comment, ma'am. I believe
that the Guard and Reserve and the way they are dispersed in
our communities is an opportunity for neighbors and extended
family members to get a sense for the kinds of sacrifices that
are being made.
I think that these families many times approach their
challenges with tremendous courage and grace. And the people
around them may not see the kinds of pressures under which they
are functioning.
One of the things that we are talking about a lot is
community capacity building and finding ways to, since these
families live away from military installations in so many
cases, to build awareness within their community, to build
coalitions of those who can provide support, and I think, as
those efforts continue, that--you know, and it might be in the
form of faith-based kinds of organizations, schools banding
together, I think it is an opportunity for the community to
learn the kinds of sacrifices that those families make.
Mrs. Davis. Anybody else?
Yes, please.
Sergeant Major Preston. Yes, ma'am. And I think that, you
know, we have made a lot of progress at getting out to the
American public. And when you look at the 2.4 million men and
women serving in the services, we are less than 1 percent of
the American population, so it is very, very small.
The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, very much
apart from the Army perspective, lose out in our communities
every day. And, you know, when there is a natural disaster and
it is, you know, those soldiers out there that are providing
relief in those communities, they are the ones that really
directly impact and make an impact on Americans out there in
those communities, you know, during natural disasters.
But, you know, a lot of the things right now in the news
have not been centered on a lot of what is going on now in the
military. As operations begin to slow down and, you know, a lot
of the bad news kind of stories now no longer meet the
headlines, then, you know, it is not in the limelight, I think,
for a lot of the American public.
And I think that is why a lot of the military families feel
that--you know, 94 percent of them feel that they just--you
know, they are not connected out there with what the American
public feels and sacrifices that they make every day.
Sergeant Major Kent. Ma'am, Sergeant Major Preston touched
on it, but I think the media has a lot to do with it. The
negativity, you know, that they portray of the media, you know,
sometimes, when--you know, when the military is doing a lot of
positive things--I mean, you know, you ask the average military
person, they are proud to serve, and they would do anything for
this Nation, but you don't usually hear the positive things.
You always hear the negative things from the media.
Mr. Myers. One other thing that we are doing in Office of
the Secretary of Defense (OSD), we have what we call an
interstate compact that deals with 10 issues, like children go
to different state schools. Every school teaches them
different. So under this interstate compact, we have the states
sign up for it, and they go out and let the schools know how to
deal with military children.
Payday lending was in force in that. Right now, we have 25
states that have signed up for that, and we have got the
biggest one, in fact, the great state of California, it passed
the assembly in two committees, Education and Judiciary, and we
are hopefully in the future it will pass. So that is getting
the word out to the community.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you. I will move on to the other members.
And perhaps at some point later on we can come back to some
other thoughts that you have.
Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you very much.
And, Mr. Myers, in my opening statement, I indicated my
interest in promoting effective and efficient coordination of
different programs. I would like to know how you feel the
programs are working together.
And then, I agree with Sergeant Major Kent, that a lot of
the good news just doesn't get out, the Yellow Ribbon program.
Could you sort of review other programs? And what is being
done? I know, as a military family ourselves, I am so impressed
by what is being done. But just generally state for all of us
what the programs are and as to their effectiveness.
Mr. Myers. We have a number of programs. And we are working
well with the Services to meet their needs.
Recently, we had a conference where we brought in Guard and
Reserves just to find out how the programs were working and
what they need, especially on the Guard and Reserve, because
they are displaced from the community.
So we have programs just like a family support assistance
team that goes out there before deployments. We will send
military family life consultants, financial advisers to augment
them for pre-deployment, post-deployment, leaving and so forth.
They are displaced.
We have worked with the Young Men's Christian Association
(YMCA) to give free membership when they deploy to not only
them but their family members. We have about 19,000 signed up
for free membership in the Y, 29,000 family members.
We also have a military family--we have a Military
OneSource where we will give non-medical counseling, and we
have done it for 12 sessions, and the medical community really
likes it, because it is pre-screening.
A lot of the people have problems that we have trained
consultants. There are PhDs trained in consulting and so forth
that can talk to them. We have financial counselors and so
forth. And on these military family life consultants, we have
actually put them at--with the Guard and Reserves, we have put
them in our Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA)
schools overseas and our schools in the states.
We have them in our family child development center just to
talk to children about issues, because, you know, we are
starting to see behavioral problem with all of these
deployments. Plus, all the Services have programs that augment
them.
The problem that we have with a lot of these programs--
there are a lot of programs--is making sure people are aware of
them so it is communication and then getting out this is
available and so forth.
In early September, we are having a conference for 1,600
people, bringing all these people from the military together,
consultants, medical, people so--just to let them know what the
programs are.
But also the military services also have great programs
that support our family members. And when I go overseas, the
first thing a military member says to me is, how are you taking
care of my family? Things are going well. If we are taking care
of their family, they can focus on the mission.
Mr. Wilson. And I am really grateful to serve with
Chairwoman Susan Davis. This committee works together. And we
want to be a resource for each of you and what--I like your
input.
I indicated from each of you as to what additional efforts
can be made by way of either policy or resources. What can we
do as a Member of Congress to help you? And we can just begin
right there in and on over.
Master Chief Petty Officer West. Yes, sir. As far as
policies and resources, I would take that for the record back.
I will tell you the support that you provide on a daily
basis has been phenomenal. And Mr. Myers down here in the
center, the support he provides for us is, as well, incredible.
The five things I see for these programs to make it out--
and we have kind of talked around it even from the first
questions--is leadership, education, communication, execution,
and then taking that feedback and making those programs work
for us.
I think there is things that we can do as far as the
education piece to those families that, as in my opening
statement, that we could do a lot better. And that is what we
are working. But as far as everything that is in place, I would
have to take that back overall to take a look at it, sir.
[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix
beginning on page 145.]
Sergeant Major Preston. Sir, one of the things I talked
about in my opening statement was--was access to medical care.
And as I travel, you know, probably the biggest concerns I get
from family members is, you know, we have great health care
programs that are out there, but it is sometimes the lag of
getting into those health care and getting accessibility to it.
One of the things that was mentioned in one of the opening
statements, too, was health care out there, particularly
counseling for children. You start looking now at, with the
pace and tempo, what are we providing for children out there in
the schools?
And one of the things that we are looking at doing now
upcoming is, with the Chief of Staff of the Army, a
comprehensive fitness program to really get in and look at the
five domains of fitness.
And it is more than just physical fitness, but it is
mental, it is spiritual, it is family, you know, to go in there
and start to build resiliency, you know, among our soldiers and
their families to better posture them for, you know, the
current pace and tempo of operations that we are offering----
Mr. Myers. I believe one of the issues we have to work on--
for a lot of these programs, in the past, we have been dealing
depending on the supplemental funds. So we have to start--and
we are starting--to move them into the baseline.
When we went to the White House, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden
had a bunch of focus groups just talking issues. And what she
said, she wants these family support programs engrained in our
government so, long after their administration has gone, these
programs are continued.
When I talk to the families--their one fear is, if the war
winds down and so forth, these programs are going to stop. And
I think that would be a great disservice to all of our people.
Colonel Lyman. I would speak specifically to the Yellow
Ribbon Reintegration Program, which really is less than a year
old in its push nationwide. Of course, it has roots that go
further back in Minnesota.
But that program, I think, the message that we would say
is, is to continue to support that, give it time to develop and
grow. It has been funded at the headquarters level in the
baseline budget for 2010. Excuse me, in--yes, for 2010. And we
are looking to extend that in the out-years.
And so that would be--that would be my recommendation.
Thank you.
Sergeant Major Kent. Sir, as we travel around speaking with
numerous family members, thousands of family members, the big
issue is medical care. We have a shortage of doctors right now,
so it might take a family member weeks to get in just for a
minor thing.
So the issue is medical care, shortage of it, but quality
is there, but it is a shortage of the doctors.
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. Congressman, thank you for the
question.
Along with Mr. Myers, I would like to add a comment on
special needs. I opened it up in my statement and mentioned
that. And it is something that we have been working.
We realize that our program, we need to continue to work on
that. I mentioned a companion program along with that. And we
have added that to there, along with, as Mr. Myers said, the
supplemental piece, we are trying to add that into our
baseline, so that would be one thing.
The other thing would be military education programs, as I
mentioned before. And I listed somewhat of a litany of things
that could be addressed by this committee here.
Also, the Guard and Reserve for childcare for Guard and
Reserve. We are teaming with the Guard and Reserve, and what we
are trying to do is make sure that their families, their
children are taken care of, as well. And that is an area that
we could continue to use your help on, too.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Loebsack.
Mr. Loebsack. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I think everyone knows that the family support programs are
absolutely critical to our military families. And I want to
thank all of you for your service and for your efforts, but
especially I am concerned about those in the Guard and Reserve
who do not have the built-in community support of an active-
duty base.
It is for this reason that I do strongly believe that the
Yellow Ribbon program must be as effective as possible. And,
Colonel Lyman, I want to thank you for your testimony. I will
have some questions here in a second for you.
I have recently heard concerns raised in Iowa, where I am
from, that the Yellow Ribbon program, while it is well
intentioned, has some critical flaws. And I understand that it
is, you know, a fairly young program, although, of course, the
enduring family program preceded it.
But it has some critical flaws in its implementation that
has undermined its effective support for National Guard
families. And I have got four things that I have heard so far;
then I will have a few questions.
One, the program does not feel personal. It can be
alienating to families due to overuse of PowerPoint
presentations--I know that probably that elicits a smile from
all of us, right--rather than group discussions or active
engagement of participants.
Second, that meetings are often referred to as drill-back
and are held in Guard facilities on drill weekends, which has
led to decreased family participation due largely to the
misperception that they are only for servicemembers.
Third, that whereas the enduring family program, which
preceded the Yellow Ribbon program in Iowa, included the
Veterans Affairs (VA) at meetings in order to provide
servicemembers and their families with one-on-one counseling
and assistance on filling out paperwork. The current meetings
do not involve the VA, even though we have a VA hospital in
Iowa City, leaving some concern that families are not aware of
what benefits are available to them.
And, fourth, that the post-deployment meetings are not
required to be held over a certain period of time, which has
led to the meetings sometimes being scheduled very close
together, despite the fact that oftentimes the stress of a
post-deployment period does not kick in for several weeks or
months after a servicemember returns home.
So, Colonel Lyman, I am very interested in working with you
to make sure that the Yellow Ribbon program works for our Guard
families. And specifically, I hope you can address the concerns
I have just raised, as well as the following, and I will list
these four, and then you can respond now or in writing, if you
would like, as well.
How is it assured that meetings are family-friendly and
help in an atmosphere where families feel comfortable
discussing the challenges they are facing? How is information
about the meetings disseminated to the families and
participation encouraged? How is feedback gathered from the
families? That is very important feedback. And how were
existing family support programs and their best practices
integrated into the Yellow Ribbon program, if at all?
Colonel Lyman. And thanks for listening to my lengthy
statement, as well.
Colonel Lyman. Of course. Let me preface what I have to say
by saying that, in my current role as the assistant director of
individual and family support policy, I don't sit in the Yellow
Ribbon Reintegration Program office.
However, I am quite acquainted with it and I would like to,
in fact, give them the opportunity to respond in greater length
to some of the things you are saying.
However, I can address my perception, which would be that,
as far as being family-friendly, there have been some advances
even recently in cooperation with military family and community
policy. They have provided and funded kits that provide
materials to help care for and entertain and make family-
friendly these events.
They are providing these to each of the joint force
headquarters in the National Guard, that includes movie in a
box and other kinds of resources that children would find
entertaining so that they are not sitting there saying, you
know, ``What am I supposed to do as a child?'' And to try and
involve them in the events.
I attended down in Norfolk a pre-deployment fair put on by
the Marine Corps, and there were other Services involved, also.
Many, many family members were present. It was held in a very
nice facility that was far from any base.
And I know that at the local execution level, sometimes
these may be placed at armories or head bases--there is also,
however, the recommendation that they be held in a location
where the family can feel relaxed and get the message that they
are important to the military and that we want them to
participate and feel welcomed.
The feedback from family members, the Centers of Excellence
for Yellow Ribbon Reintegration receives, in addition to
reports of how many attended these events, they receive
feedback reports. They become the clearinghouse for discussing
best practices, pushing those ideas out so they will become
part of other states' efforts.
The advisory group that is working above the Yellow Ribbon
program has just been established, will be staffed by three-
star-level individuals to also provide some guidance and
direction to the program.
I know that the events that I have heard about and the one
that I attended, we did fill out a very detailed feedback form
and I have provided that to them with some very constructive
feedback, because I was out speaking to some of the different
persons, families who were in attendance.
So I know that at a local level, there is that effort to
assess the event, to make sure that they are continually
improving it. I am sorry to hear that there have been some
negative experiences. That is something that I think could be
very detrimental to the program.
And we have got to make sure that across the board we have
a high level of excellence and the people feel like, ``This is
something I want to come back to,'' because we provide these at
30, 60, 90 days. We want them to come back when it is offered
again so they can receive information about programs that would
fit for their level of recovery and development following their
deployment.
Mr. Loebsack. Thank you.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
Mr. Loebsack. And maybe there are just some growing pains
in the program, too, to be quite honest.
Colonel Lyman. Of course.
Mr. Loebsack. But I thank you very much. And any others
want to respond in writing to my questions, I would be happy to
take that, as well.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
Mr. Kline--I am going to go on to Mr. Kline, but perhaps
will pick up on that in a little while.
Mr. Kline. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am going to pick up on that for just a minute, because
the gentleman from Iowa has described a situation which is the
opposite, the antithesis of what was thought of when the Yellow
Ribbon program was put into effect nationwide.
And it is true that, to a large extent, some of the Yellow
Ribbon programs in the legislation now came from Minnesota's
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program. And I will tell you that the
program now in Minnesota looks nothing like what was just
described.
The VA is always involved. We have a very large VA hospital
there. They are there in strength, the veterans service
organizations (VSO) there, the Lutheran Social Service, and
many others are there. I have attended some of these events,
and there are wives and husbands and mothers and fathers in
attendance. They are not held in armories in Minnesota. They
are held in very, very nice facilities.
There are things in the program such as marriage retreats
at one of the finest hotels in the Twin Cities that is nothing
like an armory. The program, if it is working as the gentleman
described, we ought to throw it out today, but I can just say
without getting into a state-versus-state thing that the
potential is there and the example is there for it to work and
do what it is supposed to do.
And the running the programs together in terms of time is
exactly contrary to what I believe the law says and certainly
the intention was, is you would come back at a 30-day period, a
60-day period, and a 90-day period, so that leadership can, in
fact, assess the progress or perhaps lack of progress that
might be being made in reintegrating.
So that is a terrifying story, and I would love to talk to
you about that later.
A couple other really quick things. The chair mentioned the
94 percent number. We were talking about families who perceive
that their sacrifice isn't perceived. And I am almost
surprised, Madam Chair, that it is not 100 percent, because, in
one sense, that is kind of the human condition. Until you have
walked a mile in my shoes, you can't really appreciate the pain
that I am suffering.
And it is absolutely true that military families arguably
anytime have got some stresses because they are being moved.
They are having to pack the kids up, move them out of school,
even without the stress of deployment.
So it is not at all surprising to me that military families
feel like their sacrifices aren't appreciated. And I certainly
that while we have been doing everything we can to ease their
sacrifice, but I don't know that we could ever make public
awareness to the point where they--where people--families would
believe that everybody understands that they are suffering.
And then--and finally--or not finally--I still have time,
so it is not finally. A number of you have mentioned--and,
Sergeant Major Kent, you really hit on it, that there were
concerns about medical support. And I think when you were
talking about lack of doctors, you were talking about when the
family goes to the naval hospital or perhaps the Army
hospital--there aren't doctors there.
And we need to be alert to that. This subcommittee has got
a lot of concern about that. And we should be paying close
attention as we have looked at all sorts of arrangements to
make sure that there are, in fact, enough doctors.
But a couple of you mentioned TRICARE. My family used
TRICARE and Champs or whatever. I forgot whatever preceded
that.
Mrs. Davis. CHAMPUS.
Mr. Kline. Yes, CHAMPUS, I knew it was something like that.
And we didn't like it, frankly. It is what we had, didn't--
seemed like it didn't pay enough. We found too many doctors
that wouldn't accept it.
And so I hope you will continue to tell us about those
problems. If we have communities where you cannot find a doctor
who takes TRICARE, that is unacceptable, and we need to work
that.
And then, finally, because the light is turning yellow, we
now have a lot of programs. Mr. Myers, you listed a bunch. We
have some read-ahead material here. There are just all sorts of
family advocacy programs.
And one of the things I think you said, Master Chief, is
that, gosh, we need to get the word out to them. And I am
struck that we have had this Military OneSource operation,
which is there all the time, 24/7, literally where people can
call in and ask questions about everything, what services are
available, where the nearest babysitter is, practically. I
think it is a fantastic resource.
And I hope that we are exercising that. And if it is not
working and if it can't address those concerns about, well,
what is available to me, we need to fix that.
My perception is--I have visited a OneSource center. I have
talked to the people who provide that service. My son and his--
he is in the active in the Army now, and his family is very
much aware of that. We need to make sure that people know how
to use it and make sure it is doing what it is supposed to do.
I see my--I have exceeded my time, and so I yield back.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Kline.
Mr. Kline. Thank you.
Mrs. Davis. Dr. Fleming.
Dr. Fleming. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
I have heard a couple of comments. And, of course, Mr.
Kline just mentioned the fact that adequate access to health
care is a problem. My background, I was a physician in the Navy
back in the 1970's. And we were really well-staffed, and
getting CHAMPUS in those days was not that difficult.
Being a practicing physician, though, in recent years, we
found that the reimbursement was horrible for TRICARE. And you
often didn't get it at all. It actually began to cost--we had
calculated it cost more money to file for the money than it did
to actually receive the money.
So it became--I think the comment was charity care or
something like that. That is literally the way it was our
experience.
Now, I know there have been some changes in that, one being
that there is electronic filing of claims now that we didn't
have. So I am sure that is helpful.
But in visiting around the--my district, I am still running
into issues with that, not just with CHAMPUS, but also on base
care. I visited Fort Polk recently, and a young lady I visited
with was 14 weeks pregnant and still could not get an
obstetrical appointment. That is atrocious.
Now, in that specific case, all the doctors are deployed.
But there are plenty of--I shouldn't say there are plenty of
obstetrical physician in the area, but there are enough that
she shouldn't have to wait to 14 weeks.
Yet I am shown surveys that the satisfaction rates among
members who are receiving CHAMPUS care are very high. So I am
really perplexed by what I saw on the other side of the fence,
what I am getting as feedback, but then the reports that I am
getting.
So I would really open this up. Perhaps, Sergeant Major
Preston, you might--since you kind of led with that--you might
want to start by commenting on that.
Sergeant Major Preston. Yes, sir.
Sir, you are exactly right. And, you know, the challenge
you have got is your Army's health care professionals, they
belong to units and organizations. And when that unit or
organization deploys, of course, they take their health care
professionals with them.
What we are supposed to do is be able to continue providing
health care to the families that are left behind, you know,
through the TRICARE system by pushing, you know, our families
off the installation to those surrounding communities.
And, you know, from Louisiana, you know Fort Polk. There is
not a lot of infrastructure there around Fort Polk to really
provide immediate care. And I am surprised that it was--it has
taken that long for a young lady down there to get that care in
that length of time. So that is the challenge that we have been
dealing with.
And, of course, when you look at the number of health care
providers out in the civilian community that take TRICARE, many
of them were left with a bad taste in their mouth from dealing
with TRICARE before, because of the length of time it took to
get reimbursement.
You know, I myself have dealt with a lot of cases overseas,
particularly in Germany, where, you know, we have pushed family
members out on the Germany economy to receive health care. And,
of course, now you are dealing with, you know, health care
providers in another country trying to get reimbursement. And
that acerbates the length of time to get the payment in.
I have sat down with the TRICARE management team, and they
have laid out what they have done now to restructure and
streamline that process to improve their system. So from where
it was to where it is today, I would tell you it has come a
long way and it has improved, but, you know, we have still got
a ways to go. And there are some gaps in seams out there that
need to be corrected.
Dr. Fleming. Yes. Before I go to other panel members, let
me insert that, really, CHAMPUS got the reputation--or TRICARE
got the reputation that, of course, private insurance was the
best, Medicare second best, Medicaid third, and, of course,
TRICARE was the least desirable form of reimbursement.
And oftentimes--and maybe it is the cynicism that we
physicians sometimes have about that--it seems to work in favor
of the payer for things to be inefficient. And that is one of
my worries about--slightly changing the subject for a moment--
about a government-run health care system, is we may see the
same sort of things, again, longer waiting lines, rationing,
and so forth.
So it really comes down to how quickly--how timely payment
is made and how adequate. There are plenty of doctors in this
country who--and I am sure there are many more doctors, like
myself, who for years saw patients knowing we weren't getting
paid adequately, but that was an acceptable thing for me.
But there comes a point when you just can't afford it any
longer. And so adequate payment, timely payment is key for
access of care.
Sergeant Major Preston. And if I could add one thing--and,
you know, Fort Polk is one of those communities that is
somewhat isolated. And when I travel--last week, I was in
Alaska and, you know, very isolated communities up there. And
that also acerbates the challenge.
And, you know, health care--there is a shortage of health
care professionals, you know, in our country right now. And
that hurts us not only from a recruiting perspective and
filling our ranks, but also what is available outside of
military bases.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you, Dr. Fleming.
Ms. Shea-Porter.
Ms. Shea-Porter. Thank you.
I, too, have some questions about, when there are so many
committees and so much organization devoted toward helping
medical and families who either have medical needs or long
deployments, how are they missing the message?
And so I also agree with my colleague when he talks about
Military OneSource, et cetera, et cetera. And I look at your
framework and I look at all your efforts, and yet when I go and
I talk to the families and I say, ``Do you know there's such-
and-such?'' And they say, ``No, they don't.''
So somehow or another, we are still missing the mark. And
so I sat and thought, and I said, ``Well, what would I do if I
wanted to get the message out in a military community?'' I
would put the phone numbers on a grocery bag. I would ask all
the grocers in the community to put the phone number on the
grocery bag, because that is where people go.
I would put the number in a doctor's office. I would put
the number by a pharmacy. I would put the number wherever
anybody is forced to stand in line. That is where I would put
the numbers, because for all the money that we are spending and
for all the good effort, somehow or another, they don't know.
And I have been on ships and I have asked them, and they
tell me they don't know. And I have been abroad. They don't
know. And I have been on local bases, and they don't know. So
something is missing. And I just would put that out there that
I know it must be very frustrating to you, also, that you have
these services.
Now, sometimes they do know, and then they tell me that
they can't have access because it is actually not available,
that you simply don't have the personnel to provide. And I have
heard the stories about TRICARE. In my own family, we have
experienced that with a cousin of mine.
I would also like to address one other thing. I was a
military spouse. And my husband was born and brought up--born
on a military base. And I would say there is a different mood
now.
I would say that the families are under a great deal of
stress and that they have shifted in the sense that we always
felt that people knew. Sure, they didn't know exactly how hard
some things could be, but they kind of knew. And now, even
though families know that we love them and that we honor them,
they still feel more than ever before that we don't really know
what is happening to them.
And I would attribute that to several factors. And one, I
would say, is that constant deployment is taking its toll, that
families don't have a chance to rebuild. And I am very
concerned about that. Those prolonged deployments, and the kids
being spread out around the country, versus being on a military
base and all of them in the same school. That is contributing.
I heard a horrific story about a woman who had an asthma
attack. Her husband is deployed. She had an asthma attack, and
her little seven-year-old packed the bag and the little kid and
went next door. This is isolation, and this is really something
that we have got to address.
The other part I am concerned about is what is happening to
the children whose families have experienced injury. They have
to move, and they have to go to a community, say, if they come
to Walter Reed or they go to some other place. What is
happening to those kids?
And so that is what I really want to ask each one of you in
particular. What is happening to the children once we have a
wounded warrior and we have gotten past the first phase? What
is the child's life like? What are we doing? Are we leaving
those kids unattended inadvertently by not making sure they
have constant, constant support and that they are surrounded by
people who understand their story?
And, also, I would like you to please address dual
deployments, because I think that that--it is terrible to have
one parent out of the house when you are three years old. It is
completely devastating to have both and not to know--and for
them to keep being deployed.
So, Sergeant Major Kent, I would just start with you----
Sergeant Major Kent. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Shea-Porter [continuing]. If you would be willing to
answer. And I would like to hear your perspective and what you
can do or what you believe can be done with the dual
deployments, the long deployments, and the children of wounded
warriors.
Sergeant Major Kent. Thank you very much, ma'am.
First of all, I would start off with the wounded warriors.
About two years ago, we stood up a unit called the Wounded
Warrior Regiment. It is commanded by a colonel, and they have a
sergeant major. And we have a unit on the West Coast, and we
have a unit on the East Coast.
And they have a 24-hour call center. And even if a wounded
warrior exits the Marine Corps, they still make contact with
them and their families. And this is a 24-hour call center.
So we ensure that we lose nobody in the system. And we are
confident, you know, that it is working, because we sent out
teams, and they have town hall meetings, and they talk to
families constantly, and we are confident that it is working
because the chain of command is set up like any other unit, and
they keep tabs on these wounded warriors 24 hours a day.
And that call center is set up. And, you know, and I
welcome you, ma'am, you know, to go down to Quantico, Virginia.
The headquarters is there. And they can give you a thorough
brief on, you know, exactly what they do there.
Dual deployments for our warriors, we try not to do that,
based on leadership. Now, sometimes, if they are in a critical
job, it is a possibility that, you know, both of them may have
to go. But leadership is very conscious and not to deploy two
people at the same time, especially if they have small
children. And we are confident, you know, that the leadership
is actually looking at that.
But sometimes, if they are in a critical job, you know, I
am not going to sit here and just tell you anything. If they
are in a critical job, they may have to go forward, both of
them.
Ms. Shea-Porter. Do they have an appeal process? Is there
somebody they can go to if--and ask for it to be reviewed if
both are being deployed?
Sergeant Major Kent. Yes, ma'am. We have a chain of command
all the way up. And I will be quite honest with you. The
commandant and I, we get e-mails from Privates First Class
(PFCs). So, you know, the Marines are not shy about bringing up
issues.
Ms. Shea-Porter. Thank you.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
Dr. Snyder.
Dr. Snyder. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Myers, you made the comment about special needs kids
and autism and made the legitimate point that there are more
special needs kids than just autistic kids. And I agree with
that.
I think, as you know, one of the problems our parents of
autistic kids have is that autism gets caught up in this whole
issue of mental health parity, which is autism doesn't get
treated as a physical illness. It gets treated as something
that a lot of insurance hasn't covered through the years and in
a way that I think is unfair.
And so that has created some gaps in coverage. I think that
is where some of the interest has come from. And then, as you
know, some of the therapies for autism are quite comprehensive
and people-power-intensive and puts them in a special category,
too.
But I share your need about special-needs kids. I think you
and I have talked before about the fact that my own view is
that base commanders ought to about once a quarter or so hold a
town meeting for special-needs parents and families, because my
experience is that parents for a variety of reasons, the
transit in and out of military bases, transit in and out of the
military, but also because of the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and privacy concerns, that there
may be, you know, ten families on a base with kids with severe
asthma, but they won't know each other, because the caretakers
can't tell the other folks that they have there.
This happened to me with a group of autistic kids. And I
think--and I did talk about this before--where I asked the Air
Force base to invite parents of autistic kids where I can meet
with them.
And, of course, if they didn't want to meet me, they didn't
have to. But we talked for, I don't know, 15, 20, 30 minutes
before I realized that they had never met each other. They
didn't learn a damn thing from me, but they learned a lot from
each other about what services were available.
And, I mean, it was just like a tremendous weight off them
that they actually could talk to parents. Well, I think that
would be the goal. I think that is what probably what would be
accomplished with some kind of an ongoing, regular set,
everybody in the military at any base have--with their
families--have some kind of a town hall meeting for parents of
special-needs kids.
And then, after the meeting, there could be the table for,
you know, different kids have different needs, but that could
be helpful, because it really is a challenge for our military.
It is a big determinant of where people in the military want to
go to be stationed is, what is there for my family? And I think
it helps to have a supportive system.
I wanted to ask one parochial question, if I might have you
all help me. And it is about public school buildings. We have a
situation at the Little Rock Air Force Base where a school
building on base, owned and operated by the--I mean, operated
by the local school district, who has the responsibility for
replacing it, that everybody agrees is inadequate. And it has
been an issue sitting out there for some time.
The base commanders have been very aggressive--
appropriately so--about making the case to the local school
district that the building should be replaced. And the most
recent disappointment is--and it was one of the reasons I voted
for the stimulus bill, because there were dollars there to go
for school districts around the country to help build school
buildings. They are not going to use any of the federal
stimulus dollars for this school building on this federal
facility.
And so my question is--and maybe this is not an issue that
you all deal with--do we have other issues with public schools
on military bases? Are they maintained well? Are they treated
appropriately by the local school districts? Is that something
any of you have looked at?
Or, Mr. Myers, I will direct it to you.
Mr. Myers. I am not familiar off the top of my head about
public schools on bases. You know, we have Domestic Dependent
Elementary and Secondary School (DDESS) schools on some of our
bases and DODEA schools overseas. But I would be more than
happy to look into that.
Dr. Snyder. If you wouldn't mind doing that. I mean, I feel
for the school district, because the school district, like most
of them, they do not have an overabundance of money. On the
other hand, I think--the point you all are making today is we
have a special responsibility to our military families.
And I talked to one parent who said it is a real downer
when you are overseas to get an e-mail from your kid that the
roof leaked again--literally leaked again--and hit his desk
this time and ruined his papers and things.
But, Colonel Lyman, do you have any comment?
Colonel Lyman. Well, I was just going to say, there is a
working group that is between DOD and Department of Education
that deals with a host of education issues having to do with
that special population, and particularly with those
communities that immediately surround military installations.
And I represent the Reserve Component on that committee.
And this is something I could certainly bring to their
attention.
Dr. Snyder. Yes, well, and maybe it is an isolated
situation. The very supportive community--and it is a district
that doesn't have an abundance of money. On the other hand, it
is a, I think, a priority.
The base is willing to donate land outside the perimeter
that is federal land for the facility. That deals with some
security issues, but also that is a big chunk of construction,
if you have the land available. And it would be a great site.
My time is up. Thank you.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you.
Mr. Jones.
Mr. Jones. Madam Chairman, thank you.
And I want to thank those of you in the--at the panel for
your service to our Nation. And I want to piggyback on Mrs.
Shea-Porter.
I have told this story many times, and I have got a reason
to tell it again, to get to the point of what I want to ask
you. Back in 2007, I was invited to national reading day to be
at Camp Lejeune, Johnson Elementary School. And as I finished
reading Dr. Seuss to the children, there were 15 kids in the
library, 6 years of age, 5 and 6.
And the questions were, as a child would ask, ``Do you have
a dog?'' ``Have you seen the President?'' Those kind of
questions. Now, the last child--this is a point I want to get
to--the last child--and I made the announcement, ``This will be
the last question. I have to leave.'' The librarian was
standing there, and my staff, a retired Marine, Jason Larry.
And the little boy looked up at me and he said, ``My
daddy's not dead yet.'' ``My daddy's not dead yet.'' I was so
shocked that it had to be at least 40 seconds--I couldn't
respond. I came out with a response of, ``Well, God loves our
moms and our dads.''
And the reason I mentioned that, because I believe it was
Sergeant Preston, in your comments--I was late getting here--or
maybe your answer to a question. With knowing the shortage of
psychiatrists, psychologist and medical doctors in the
military--and another point I want to make before I ask the
question.
I won't call the name of the Marine, but I was there for
the sermon. He had given a guide dog to a Marine who was badly
burned, badly burned. And thinking about the young man that
said this about his father, and thinking about this corporal
who was receiving the guide dog, and knowing how badly he was
burned, are we able to really help those children who, at five,
six, seven, eight, think about their daddy not coming back or
mom not coming back, or one coming back who is paralyzed, or
one coming back whose face will not look normal again?
Do you really feel that, in this shortage of medical
professionals, that we are doing--I know we are doing the best
we can do, but can more be done for those children? This preys
on my heart for a long time, that these young children that
would grow up with that different look out of the face of a
father or mother or maybe their daddy didn't come back.
Do you feel that--under the circumstances, I am sure you
do, that we are doing the best we can--but can more be done? I
will go to you, Sergeant Kent, because I think you meant--I
think you meant--Preston, excuse me. I think you mentioned
counseling for children in a general statement.
Sergeant Major Preston. And, sir, I will tell you that, you
know, across the board, I mean, for all of us, we are working
right now focusing on getting those counselors and those
services into all of our schools.
And one of the things that, you know, General Casey said
last week as we were working through the details of this
rollout of a comprehensive soldier fitness program, I mean,
when you look at the five domains of fitness, one of those is
families. It is building resilient families out there that are
able to cope with the stresses of life right now that we have
put on them.
So one of those is being able to get those services out
there into all of our schools and to be able to take care of
the children, as they are growing up in all different ages.
And we have done some of that right now with the child
development new centers that are out there. And, of course, the
next step now is a lot of our schools which are tied to public
school districts.
And there are a lot of best practices out there that are
going on. We have got, you know, now family liaisons in a lot
of the schools out there that have large military populations.
You know, one of the things that I am very proud of, for
the city of El Paso, you know, what they did was they have
hired family spouses to work as family liaisons in the schools,
where they have large densities of military children to help
the children and the families integrate into the school
district, but then also that they are there all the time with
the children, so those that do need counseling and do need
help, you know, we are able to get more of those services
focused on the individuals.
Mr. Jones. Does anybody else have a comment?
Yes, sir.
Mr. Myers. A couple things. One of the problems that we
have is, as we talk about mental health care and its access to
health care, we had a Senate committee where we had spouses
talk and they rated health care excellent, but access poor.
And what we have found out, families with children, a lot
of TRICARE providers will--a lot of health professionals will
not accept TRICARE. So constantly we hear at Fort Campbell,
these families have to travel to Nashville, an hour-and-a-half,
to get the care and back.
So what we are doing is Secretary Thomas, he is actually
going to go to Fort Drum and Fort Campbell with the TRICARE
people, the health care people, just to find out if we can
break it loose.
Now, dealing with children, we have a great relationship
with ``Sesame Street.'' They did a national TV--the first one
was dealing with the deployments. The second one that they came
out recently was when Dad or Mom comes home differently. And
these are family members who participate, losing arms and so
forth.
The next one they are going to do is loss of a loved one.
So this helps the children. Plus, we have these family life
consultants and our child development centers at the base just
to talk to children.
But our children, they have it rough. There are military
members that will not put their uniform on at home. They leave
it at work, because the kids, they see that, they think Dad or
Mom is going to be deployed.
Secretary Snyder--I mean, Dr. Snyder, when he said when he
leaves for Washington, puts his tie on, the kids know you are
leaving. So it is a big impact.
Colonel Lyman. May I?
Mrs. Davis. Yes.
Colonel Lyman. One program that has been mentioned--and I
just wanted to emphasize it here is Military OneSource. That is
a program--I had a good friend whose son died in a tragic car
accident, 17-year-old. He was just being eaten alive with his
grief, suggested he call Military OneSource.
He called them. Every time I am with him and he runs into
somebody, he says, ``This guy turned me on to OneSource. I got
counseling that really changed my situation.'' And I think that
is an opportunity that is available to every family nationwide,
because there are contracts with therapists in communities.
And at one time, the session limit was six sessions per
issue. That has now increased to 12 sessions per issue. That is
a marvelous resource for anyone to make that call, get a
referral to a therapist within easy distance of their home. I
believe in most cases they would be able to do that and get
that help.
Mr. Jones. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you. If I could just follow up with that,
are you all able to do public service announcements, getting
that message out with the number? Is that something that all
the major broadcasters, as well as cable, have accepted? And is
there something that we can do to facilitate that?
Mr. Myers. That information is getting out on all the
bases. We are doing TV announcements for overseas, base
newspapers, and so forth, and the word is getting out, because
I think this year the calls to Military OneSource have probably
increased 40 percent.
So families know about it. They are calling and so forth.
But you still find these little pockets where they don't know.
So as I told you, Secretary Thomas is going out just to get
the feedback, to pass the word, get the information out and so
forth. And National Military Family Association (NMFA), they
really help us getting the word out. So I think the word is
getting out now.
Mrs. Davis. If I could follow up on the issue of children,
because I think that people think about the impact of
deployments on children ages 6 to 12. And I think, Mr. Myers,
you were at the Baby Caucus meeting when they talked about the
impact zero to five, the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC)
found that children between those ages were highly impacted.
And could you comment on that? And what do you think should
be done? Are there additional studies we should be doing?
Services--clearly we know there could be and should be and we
would like to see more mental health workers that are able to
relate to families with children at this age. But short of
that, what else should we be doing to understand this better
and the impact that that could have on the future productivity
and the future life of that child?
Mr. Myers. Well, the Baby Caucus, I mean, that was really
great. We had a number of congressmen, people there, and so
forth, and they had professionals. They had Dr. Luster, who did
a project focus study that is going to be coming out later this
month. They had the wife of the The Adjutant General (TAG) from
North Carolina, and they had a military spouse. Her husband was
in the Guard. She was a few months pregnant. He deployed. He
came back when the baby was six months old.
But she tells the story, when he was gone, he would call.
She would put the phone to the womb so he would talk to the
baby, would put a picture of him in front of that baby. The
only thing that disappointed her, when the husband came home,
the baby bonded with her, and here she has been talking to the
baby, the first word out of the baby's mouth was ``Dada.''
So the father really liked it. And they gave us--they
showed us some films of just dealing with babies. They had a
parent dealing with a baby, interacting. The baby would point.
The mother would look and so forth.
Then they had the mother come back and sit in front of the
baby. The baby did the same thing. The mother just looked at
the baby, never moved. The baby pointed, nothing. All of a
sudden, the baby starts hitting, screaming and crying.
So it is getting the word that connection at that young age
is so, so important. And you get--especially the Marines. You
get these young Marines. They haven't really even bonded maybe
with their wife. They have young children. The bond with that
child, so I think it is a great first meeting.
I think they are going to do studies. And the more we get
involved with that, I mean, that is a major impact, zero to
three, because that is when they can develop developmental
problems and so forth. But we really appreciate it. I know you
are a part of that caucus.
Mrs. Davis. Yes, thank you.
I want to just turn to another area which I have to do, I
think, with just the changing environments that we all live in
and the difference of so many women working and, in some cases,
working at lower pay, perhaps, than their counterparts and, as
military spouses often find themselves, quite mobile and unable
to really establish themselves in areas. In the Air Force,
about 50 percent of the women are working outside the home.
Are we adjusting? Are we finding ways of really responding
to that situation? Because, you know, it is not the traditional
family unit in some ways that, you know, the military has grown
up with, where we relied on moms at home to be able to do many
things and be there with families, where, in fact, they have to
work today. And it is quite different.
How are you responding to that? What has changed? And how
are you evaluating any of the programs that are out there that
have to deal with the dual working families in the services, as
well as not necessarily both of them in the service?
Mr. Myers. Well, especially for military families that both
work and our child development centers, people have to work
longer. We have family daycare to put them in there. We have
care 24 hours a day to take care of the children. But,
remember, when someone deploys, mom or dad is home taking them
to soccer, so forth and so on.
Thanks to Congress, we have started these career
advancement accounts where military spouses can come in and
sign online to take college courses, get licensed for various
things. You know, military spouses leave, you could be a
schoolteacher in one state. You have to get a license in
another state.
So we have these accounts. And it is up to $6,000 where you
can apply to get your license renewed, take college courses,
get licenses, and so forth. And the majority--we have 34,000
spouses signed up since March for this program. And most of
them are taking courses to go into the health care area.
But the bases themselves, the squadron has things to
support the spouse. But this is different. You know, when I was
in the service, one spouse stayed home. So it is really--there
is a lot of pressure on the family. And a lot of families also
depend on their mother and father, grandmother and grandfather
and so forth. The services also have programs to address that.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you. Certainly an area that we need to
work much harder on.
We have a vote, and--six, six votes actually, so it is
going to be some time.
Mr. Wilson, do you want to follow up quickly with a
question? And if we can get to Ms. Shea-Porter, then maybe we
will close it out, since it is going to be an hour, and we will
have some questions for the record.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Instead of a
question, I just want to thank you.
We have a circumstance, as Chairwoman Davis has identified,
and that is that we have a higher percentage of married
military personnel today than ever before. But I also see this
as great opportunities for military families.
To me, I know what it has meant for myself, for my four
sons, for their families. It is very uplifting, their military
service. It has created opportunities beyond imagination.
The travel, when I visit with young people from my home
state, whether it be in Guam or South Korea or Iraq,
Afghanistan, Kuwait, you name it, it is just so uplifting to
see the opportunities for young people.
And so as we are--as giving young people and military the
opportunity to protect our country, you are also working with
their families. And I just--I want to thank you, as I stated
earlier. However we can back you up by policy or any other way,
please let us know. But it is just wonderful to know the
opportunities for a person that wants to serve in our military.
Thank you, and God bless each of you.
Mrs. Davis. Thanks.
Ms. Shea-Porter, a quick question?
Ms. Shea-Porter. Yes, I would like to thank you, also, for
all that you are doing.
But, Mr. Myers, I would like to ask you in particular, do
you have any idea how many dual deployed you are actually
dealing with? And do you know how many children of wounded
warriors we have who have had to move? Do you have any idea how
many have been displaced?
Mr. Myers. I would have to go to each of the services for
that. But when I was with the Air Force, I dealt with the
wounded warrior program. I can tell you, we had a military
person assigned to that family to take care of that family.
They had priority. They had all their childcare needs and so
forth to make sure that they were accommodated.
The one thing that we had pushed--and I think it is going
to come in for legislation--in many cases, the spouse leaves
her employment to go there, to take care of the injured person
and access a non-medical attendant. So they are losing their
income there. There are non-medical--it is a non-medical
attendant.
That person is out of the hospital--we should give them
compensation to do that job. Taking care of children is
extremely important. We had an airman that was burned over 80
percent of his body. He was down at Brooks Medical Center.
People who have burns, unfortunately, a lot of them do not
survive. We found out this person all of a sudden was not doing
well. His family--problem was, he was afraid his three-year-old
child would view him as a monster. We got the right people to
talk to the family, the child. The child saw him as his father.
Today, 114 operations later, he is doing great and wants to
continue to serve in the Air Force.
Ms. Shea-Porter. I am very happy to hear you say that. We
should compensate these families----
Mr. Myers. Correct.
Ms. Shea-Porter [continuing]. Because I have had a large
number of them who have had to leave their homes to care for
their loved ones. And I heard a particularly tragic story where
this woman took care of somebody who now was paying her
mortgage just out of the goodness of her heart because she was
there with her son. And I don't think that was ever our
intention to leave these families hanging over a financial
cliff, as well as an emotional cliff.
Mr. Myers. I agree.
Ms. Shea-Porter. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you. And I know Ms. Shea-Porter was on
the trip, and we want to Afghanistan and met with many women
there. And we did hear a number of stories, because they were
single parents and, in some cases, having their parents or
relatives care for the children and, in some case, even having
difficulty getting access to medical services for that child.
And I think we tried to deal with some of those issues. But
it is certainly an important one.
Yes?
Sergeant Major Preston. If I could, I would like to just
talk to the dual military couples, just from an Army
perspective. And as I spend a lot of time out on the road and I
talk to a lot of military couples, and for all of them, they--
you know, when they went to an installation as a couple, they
have a choice. And what I advise them is always--is to go in as
a couple and talk to the commander.
And there are a lot of cases, military couples want to be
deployed together, you know? You know, Tonya Gerard just left
my office. You know, her husband is a soldier. You know, both
of them have no children, and they want to be deployed
together, so they are on the same deployment cycle, they can
take leaves together, celebrate the same holidays and birthdays
together. You know, for that couple, for them to be deployed
together is what is best for them.
And then you have those couples out there that have young
children. And, of course, what they don't want to do is be
deployed at the same time. And by talking to the commander,
they can get in different units and organizations that are on
different deployment cycles.
But for the single parents that are out there, as well as
the dual military couples, you know, they are required to have
a family care plan so that, you know, they have got those plans
in place to make sure that their children are taken care of in
the event that they are deployed.
Ms. Shea-Porter. Right. So many repeated deployments,
though, it is falling apart. Many of the family plans have
fallen apart because it is now the third deployment. And, you
know, Grandma is not as happy and as willing or unable to do
that or the brother or whomever. So it is the repeated
deployments, I think, that has put that extra strain on them.
Thank you.
Mrs. Davis. I want to thank you all for being here. I
think, because of the fact that we are not going to be back
here for about an hour, we are going to go ahead and conclude.
I appreciate all the programs that you have shared with us
and the initiatives. I think one of the things that we are very
interested in, of course, is how you evaluate them. It is not
just based on the number of people that participate, but are
they being institutionalized? You know, are they seen as
something that is going to be there for them and for the
families?
And so the extent to which you can get that kind of
feedback will be very important to us. And we hope that we will
have an opportunity to meet with you again, perhaps in a
roundtable, to continue the opportunities to do that.
So I want to thank you again very much on behalf of the
families that you care about so deeply. And I want to remind
you that we are very interested in making incremental, but
continuing improvement always in how we treat our families.
Mr. Myers. Thank you for your support. We sincerely
appreciate it.
Mrs. Davis. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 2:01 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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?
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DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
July 22, 2009
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?
=======================================================================
WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING
THE HEARING
July 22, 2009
=======================================================================
RESPONSE TO QUESTION SUBMITTED BY MR. WILSON
Master Chief Petty Officer West. One specific area we could use
your help and support is military spouse employment, of particular
interest in these times of high unemployment. Efforts to address
streamlining state-to-state certification and licensure in health
services, education, financial services and potentially other
occupational areas would be most beneficial as spouses frequently move
between states with their service members. Also, opportunities to
market military spouses to nationwide employers within Congressional
districts could provide local solutions to corporate hiring needs while
adding visibility to our spouse workforce.
Current funding levels are meeting program requirements. [See page
13.]
?
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QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING
July 22, 2009
=======================================================================
QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MRS. DAVIS
Mrs. Davis. Can each of you explain to the committee how the
Department, or your individual Service, evaluates family support
programs to determine whether they are meeting the needs of the
families? What sort of process does your Service or the Department go
through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of the
programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e.
family members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. The Department values ongoing,
systematic Service member and family research and evaluation,
especially critical in these times of change, to help guide us in best
serving families. Along with social science research on families and
quality of life issues, we have relied on three major sources of data
over the past several years to help us understand the needs of
families.
1) Active Duty Spouse Surveys (2006 and 2008) cover a wide range
of quality of life issues, including financial well-being, effects of
deployments on children, spouse employment and education, and feelings
about military life. The surveys provide the richest source of data we
have to date about how families are faring across all the services.
2) Three Status of the Forces Surveys a year poll Active Duty
service members on their overall satisfaction with the military,
retention intentions, perceived readiness, stress, tempo, and permanent
change of station moves. Two surveys of the Reserve Components are also
conducted each year. These surveys allow us to track trends and changes
in the quality of life of Service members and their families. A
rotating set of questions covers quality of life issues, including
financial well-being, impact of deployments on children, use of
services and programs like Military OneSource and Morale, Welfare and
Recreation and family support.
3) In May 2000, the Department funded the Military Family Research
Institute at Purdue University to conduct basic research on quality of
life in military families, with particular emphasis on implication for
job satisfaction, performance and retention.
In recognition of the increased burden placed on Service members
and families during the Overseas Contingency Operation, the Department
has made family readiness a high priority and has redesigned and
boosted family support. Use of support programs has expanded as the
programs respond to the needs of our military families. The Department
has recently completed its first report to Congress on Military Family
Readiness Policy and Plans, in accordance with NDAA 08 Section 581. The
report addresses goals and measurement systems associated with family
support programs in some detail.
Developing outcome measures remains a work in progress due to the
difficulties in applying meaningful measures to a military family's
readiness. In many areas, insufficient data exists to directly link
program benefits to outcomes for military families. For example,
outcome data on various service programs that assist military spouses
with employment goals has been difficult to systematically collect as
the Services have different delivery systems and different data
collection methods. Standardizing and collecting program outcome
measures will be a priority of research in coming years.
Mrs. Davis. Can each of you explain to the committee how the
Department, or your individual Service, evaluates family support
programs to determine whether they are meeting the needs of the
families? What sort of process does your Service or the Department go
through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of the
programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e.
family members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations?
Sergeant Major Preston. In fiscal year 2004, the Family and Morale,
Welfare and Recreation command instituted an aggressive Army Community
Service (ACS) Accreditation program. This comprehensive evaluation
consists of over 190 standards which establish baseline metrics for
common levels of service delivered within our military communities. As
part of this extensive review, ACS staff, volunteers, and customers
participate in interviews with accreditation team members. Their input
is used to validate findings and identify areas for improvement.
In October 2007, the Army unveiled the Army Family Covenant as its
commitment to provide Soldiers and their Families--Active, Guard, and
Reserve--with a quality of life commensurate with their level of
service and sacrifice to the Nation. The Army has aggressively improved
a broad range of Family-oriented, quality of life programs to
standardize services, increase accessibility to health care, improve
Soldier and Family housing, ensure excellence in schools, youth, and
child services, and expand education and employment opportunities for
Families. The Army has made significant progress, but there is still
much to do.
As the Army Family Covenant nears its second anniversary, senior
leaders want to know if improvements and investments in programs and
services meet the needs of Soldiers and Families. We are conducting a
series of town hall meetings at seven of our largest installations to
meet with Family Readiness Group leaders and members to gather first-
hand information from those most affected by deployments about how well
the Covenant is meeting its commitments. Results from the town halls
will guide further program and service improvement strategies.
We also measure the effectiveness of Army support programs by
regularly surveying Soldiers and Families to seek opinions, assess
satisfaction, and most importantly, monitor adaptation to the unique
challenges of Army life. These trends help us match the capabilities of
Army programs to the expectations of our Soldiers and Families--keeping
the Army strong, ready, and resilient.
Finally, the Army's customer-centric tool to communicate issues
important to Soldiers and Families is the Army Family Action Plan
(AFAP). The AFAP gives Soldiers and Families (Active and Reserve
Component) a voice in shaping their standards of living by allowing
them to identify and elevate issues and concerns to senior leaders for
resolution. Although most issues can be resolved at local level, issues
elevated to HQDA have resulted in 112 legislative changes and 159
policy changes. The AFAP also gives the Army leaders an assessment of
how well deployment and Family support is working.
Mrs. Davis. Can each of you explain to the committee how the
Department, or your individual Service, evaluates family support
programs to determine whether they are meeting the needs of the
families? What sort of process does your Service or the Department go
through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of the
programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e.
family members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations?
Sergeant Major Kent. The Marine Corps uses Functionality
Assessments (FA) as the internal program review process to maximize
program efficiencies and ensure effectiveness. FAs are conducted in
three phases, which include the evaluation of current programs (i.e.,
As-Is analysis); Benchmarking, a comparison of best business practices;
and ``To-Be'' development. The ``As-Is'' phase is based on the
information provided by the installations through a data call. During
the ``Benchmarking'' phase, a professional firm is contracted to
conduct an objective bias free study of like processes employed by our
Sister Services and select public and private organizations. The As-Is
and Benchmark information provide the basic tools and resources needed
for the third and final phase, ``To-Be''. This phase is conducted as a
week-long Working Group comprised of installation program specific
subject matter experts and management, as well as headquarters program
sponsors. Common deliverables achieved through the conduct of FAs
include:
Mission validation and identification of critical
requirements.
Redefining or refining core functions and tasks to
establish an acceptable minimal level of service Marine Corps-wide.
Adoption of best practices identified in the benchmark
study.
Development of common terms and definitions to help
ensure data integrity, and to increase opportunities for benchmarking
across the Corps with industry.
Identification of standard IT systems for data
collection, admin, and modernization of service delivery.
Development of standardized staffing models based on
defined metrics.
Development of performance measures to help determine
program effectiveness and to quantify contribution to positive military
outcomes (recruitment, retention, readiness).
To-date, the Marine Corps has completed 24 FAs that encompass over
50 programs and support functions. The Functionality Assessments are
also supported by customer surveys that capture invaluable data from a
representative sample of the Marine Corps' demographic. Additional
national-level research efforts are used to capture customer feedback
and guide Marine Corps planning and programming decisions; most notably
the Quality of Life (QOL) in the Marine Corps Study. The Marine Corps
administered the fourth iteration of QOL Study during the 2007
timeframe. The Study results are instrumental in tracking and reporting
Marine and spouse perceptions of QOL in a wide variety of life areas,
such as housing, compensation, and healthcare to marriage, friendships,
and children.
Mrs. Davis. Can each of you explain to the committee how the
Department, or your individual Service, evaluates family support
programs to determine whether they are meeting the needs of the
families? What sort of process does your Service or the Department go
through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of the
programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e.
family members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. Navy family readiness programs and
services are systematically evaluated through several mechanisms. To
meet the DoD requirement for triennial inspection of all military
family centers, Navy Fleet and Family Support Programs (FFSP)
implemented in 1994 an Accreditation Program. Accreditation provides
detailed analyses of program operation, to include identification of
strengths and areas for improvement. It also provides an external,
objective marker that the program meets accepted standards for
organizational function and quality of service, and it ensures
regulatory requirements are met in each management function and program
area offered. The Navy Child and Youth Program (CYP) also conducts
unannounced annual inspections by qualified Navy child development
specialists, and partners in comprehensive accreditation programs with
the National Association for the Education of Young Children for Child
Development Centers and the Council on Accreditation for school-aged
care.
In addition to Navy accreditation processes, Sailors, family
members, and command participants are surveyed on a recurring basis by
installation Fleet and Family Support Program (FFSP) personnel to
determine the effectiveness and quality of services offered. Programs
are adapted accordingly in response to feedback about what does and
doesn't work.
Mrs. Davis. Can each of you explain to the committee how the
Department, or your individual Service, evaluates family support
programs to determine whether they are meeting the needs of the
families? What sort of process does your Service or the Department go
through in order to validate the effectiveness and quality of the
programs that are being provided? How are feedback from users (i.e.
family members/dependents) incorporated into these evaluations?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. The United States Air Force conducts a
biennial Community Assessment where military members and their families
are polled directly for their opinions about the effectiveness of
family support and other quality of life programs. Information gathered
from the Community Assessment is tabulated, reviewed and developed into
a community action plan at the installation, major command and
headquarters levels. In addition, individual installations are
empowered to conduct focus groups and local needs assessments surveys
to gauge their specific community needs. Once assessed, the community
action plans are standardized for base implementation so families cross
the Air Force are offered similar services. In addition, specialized
programs are developed to meet unique needs. For instance, programs are
developed based on unique needs, like an overseas assignment or a
specific mission. To augment these forms of feedback, the Air Force
also contracts assessment teams to independently survey the
effectiveness of our programs.
Mrs. Davis. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding
requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this
level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these
important programs are being provided to families? Should the
Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding
support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially
during these difficult times for military families?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. The Department is fully committed to
providing a high quality of life for military members serving our
Nation and their families. These programs are lifelines of support for
families, especially children and youth, who are stationed around the
globe. Our commitment includes providing strong youth programs and
services through adequate funding, strict oversight, continual staff
development and strong family involvement.
Current minimal funding for appropriated funds (APF) support for
family and youth programs is 65%, however the Services are spending
well over that amount. For example, in 2008 the Army spent 93.4%, Navy
74%, Air Force 70%, and Marine Corps 88% of APF.
The effects of eight years of war on military children, youth and
their families have taken its toll. Recent studies have found that a
significant number, (approximately 32%), of military youth, whose
parents are deployed during wartime, may be at ``high risk'' for
psychosocial problems which can include learning disorders;
developmental disabilities; and emotional, behavioral and psychosomatic
problems (msnbc.com and NBC News, updated 6:00 p.m. ET, Thurs., Aug.
13, 2009). Furthermore, research also shows a direct correlation
between the levels of support receive and a lowering of risk levels.
DoD appreciates the focus and attention Congress has placed on
military youth programs. We continue our commitment to meet these
expectations and share the passion for improving services to support
military children, youth, and families.
Mrs. Davis. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding
requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this
level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these
important programs are being provided to families? Should the
Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding
support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially
during these difficult times for military families?
Sergeant Major Preston. The Army continues to support the standard
funding level of 65 percent Appropriated Funding (APF) which is
sufficient to ensure the delivery of the Youth Programs. As part of the
Army Family Covenant, the Army increased APF support in fiscal year
2009 for Youth Programs to mitigate the stressful effects placed on our
Families due to eight years of persistent conflict. This increase has
allowed the Army to expand youth programming to include outreach
services for geographically dispersed youth, to offset fee discounts
for youth sports and instructional programs for children of deployed
Soldiers, to provide transportation support to allow youth to
participate in after school activities, and to offer extended operating
hours for youth centers that mirror the extended duty day in support of
parental mission requirements.
Mrs. Davis. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding
requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this
level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these
important programs are being provided to families? Should the
Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding
support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially
during these difficult times for military families?
Sergeant Major Kent. The Marine Corps appreciates the on-going
support of Congress to address funding requirements for important
family support programs. Although DoD policy establishes 65% as the
minimum standard for funding MWR Category B programs (includes child
and youth programs); the policy does allow 100% APF support for all
authorized expenditures. For FY08, the Marine Corps MWR Category B
funding was reported at 83%, which was an approximate $41M increase in
total APF spending from FY07. This included baseline and supplemental
funding expenditures. Beginning in FY10, CMC has directed a $110M
increase to the family support baseline budget, which will help
solidify efforts to transition programs to a wartime footing.
Mrs. Davis. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding
requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this
level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these
important programs are being provided to families? Should the
Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding
support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially
during these difficult times for military families?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. Since youth programs have a
limited ability to generate revenue from user fees and programs are
often provided free of charge to encourage participation, the minimum
funding requirement of 65 percent is appropriate. The remaining 35
percent is covered by non-appropriated programs. This percentage split
does not limit the amount of appropriated dollars Congress can
authorize for family and youth programs. Current funding levels are
meeting program requirements.
Mrs. Davis. The Department of Defense standard appropriated funding
requirement for youth programs is 65 percent. Do you believe that this
level of appropriated funding is sufficient to ensure that these
important programs are being provided to families? Should the
Department and Congress consider increasing the appropriated funding
support to higher level for family and youth programs, especially
during these difficult times for military families?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. The Air Force operates over 82 Child and
Youth programs world-wide and serves approximately 68,000 military
dependents under the age of 18. Activities focus on five core program
areas: Character and Leadership Development, the Arts, Youth Sports,
Fitness and Recreation, Health and Life Skills, and Education and
Career Development. The School Age program includes before and after
school care, care on school holidays and during the summer months,
specialty and summer camps, and part-day preschools for parents of
children aged 5-12 years. The Air Force Youth Camping Program offers a
wide variety of summer camp opportunities in both residential and
specialty camps and serves over 20,000 children of military members.
Mission Youth Outreach is a partnership between the Air Force and the
Boys & Girls Club of America that provides one-year free membership for
youth to attend any Boys & Girls Club in their community.
The 65% funding requirement for Child and Youth Programs sustains
basic program operating costs and allows for partial replacement of
equipment. Increased funding would allow for initiatives directly
targeting children of deployed members, augmentation of existing
programs with specialized positions that help families deal with
deployment-specific issues and family relocations, and enhance existing
relationships with the Air Force partners like the Boys & Girls Clubs
of America and 4-H.
The Air Force is committed to serving Airmen and their families by
reaching out and assisting all members of the Total Force through
robust child, youth and family programs, wherever the member resides.
Mrs. Davis. One of the constant challenges for many family support
programs is the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done
to address this issue?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. Staff turnover is an on-going issue in
family support programs especially overseas where many staff are
military spouses who relocate every few years when their sponsor is
reassigned. Turnover is an expected issue and one that is weighed
against the benefit of military spouses' career opportunities,
experience, and ability to adapt to changing situations. Many military
spouses who begin their federal careers overseas go on to similar jobs
in CONUS locations. The Services report stateside family support
programs do not show higher levels of staff turnover than other
programs. Turnover is expected and steps are taken to employ relocating
staff at the next duty station, thereby reducing the effects of staff
turnover.
The military Services have taken steps in recent years to improve
recruitment and retention of support staff within their family programs
and lessen the negative impact of turnover by increasing recruitment
efforts, offering incentives, and reorganizing programs. Several of the
Services have changed the manner in which they provide family support
and have done away with the traditional ``stove-piped'' service
delivery system where each staff member specializes in one program
area. In the new delivery system, staff are cross-trained to provide
services in several program areas. This concept works to lessen the
impact of staff turnover by ensuring continuity and program knowledge
and experience is not lost when a person leaves.
Another effort to recruit and retain quality staff is in the area
of payment and incentives. For child and youth programs, pay is fixed
across the Department with increases based on successful completion of
training and adequate performance. Child and youth programs typically
offer educational incentives such as payments for college courses.
Additionally, the Department has partnered with the 106
institutions which make up the public Land Grant University system to
provide training and professional development for Military Community
and Family Policy and family programs staff. One such effort is the
Capitol Region Child Care Laboratory School--this model professional
development program provides hands-on training in a military child or
youth program setting linked to a university laboratory school and its
faculty expertise. This Lab School will provide services for families
while serving as a learning laboratory for students and professionals
to enhance their training in child development, family support, and
administrative management. The program will assist program efforts in
enhancing professional development, as well as improve the overall
quality and functioning of staff.
Another program that will address recruitment and retention of
military family program staff is the 4-H Military Internship Program,
collaboration between the Department, the United States Department of
Agriculture, and the Land Grant University system. This Internship
Program will recruit upper level undergraduate and graduate students to
work within DoD programs such as child development centers, youth
programs, and other family support programs.
Mrs. Davis. One of the constant challenges for many family support
programs is the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done
to address this issue?
Sergeant Major Preston. The Army Family Covenant in 2007 provided
funding for an additional 477 positions for our 83 Army Community
Service (ACS) centers worldwide. Until these positions are authorized
in fiscal year (FY) 2010, the Army is using a bridging strategy of
contractors and over hires to deliver the required services. These
positions will bring ACS centers to the standards established by the
1999 US Army Manpower and Analysis Agency staffing requirements. This
will increase our base staffing in ACS centers by approximately one
third (from 1,071 to 1,414). We are currently reviewing additional
manpower requirements for FY12 to address current new missions
acquired, without additional resources, since the 1999 manpower
surveys.
Many of our Family Program positions are filled with military
spouses. As Soldiers move, so do their spouses. While this turnover is
challenging, we believe that the opportunities for professional
positions in portable careers within the military community for our
Families is a huge quality of life advantage.
Mrs. Davis. One of the constant challenges for many family support
programs is the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done
to address this issue?
Sergeant Major Kent. In 2007, the CMC took deliberate action to
establish civilian family readiness officers and family support
trainers. This action was necessary as much of the work prior to 2008
was performed by volunteers. Beyond these program areas, we have
significantly increased our Exceptional Family Member Program and
established a School Liaison Program. Our strategy for retention is to
ensure competitive salaries appropriate to the position. However, it
must be acknowledged that military spouses predominantly fill these
positions at present. Therefore, we expect turnover to be high. While
regrettable, the talent and expertise of military spouses allows these
individuals to quickly acclimate to employment on another installation
reducing effects of turnover.
Our remaining challenge has been associated with family support
programs that have been contracted out over time. Recent changes in OSD
policy and Congressional direction for in-sourcing of contracts have
presented an opportunity to, upon appropriate business case analysis,
discontinue contracts at appropriate timeframes and establish
nonappropriated fund personnel who are government personnel and
salaries reimbursed by appropriated funds. We expect this action will
have two significant benefits: (1) stabilize our staffing and resolve
long-term vacancies and (2) return ownership and flexibility directly
to the program and evolve services to meet our mission. At present,
flexibility is greatly restricted due to contract terms.
Mrs. Davis. One of the constant challenges for many family support
programs is the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done
to address this issue?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. There is no known data that shows
family support programs have a level of turnover that is higher than
any other Navy program. We take pride in hiring military spouses and
therefore it would be reasonable to assume that this practice would
result in a higher level of turnover than non-Navy programs. However,
losing a trained spouse from one location due to transfer often means
the ability to hire a fully trained staff member at the next duty
location. With respect to recruitment, we are proactive in identifying
positions that can be virtual, preventing a break in service for the
spouse when the active duty member is transferred. In addition, we
encourage alternate work schedules where appropriate as a workforce
incentive; maximize the family programs network in recruitment; and
utilize Facebook technology as a recruitment tool.
Mrs. Davis. One of the constant challenges for many family support
programs is the lack of staff and constant turnover. What can be done
to address this issue?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. Airman and Family Readiness Centers
(A&FRCs) across the Air Force see approximately 15 percent turnover
annually. A&FRCs combat this turnover percentage by staffing their
centers with Community Readiness Consultants (CRCs). CRCs are trained
to provide customer service in any program area under the A&FRC
umbrella. The CRC concept abandons the traditional stove-piped service
delivery system and allows each staff member to provide full spectrum
support.
Mrs. Davis. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps
ombudsmen in my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the
lack of access to funds that could be used to help reduce the financial
burden on our volunteers or provide recognition for their service. Have
the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family
support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would be the issues
that need to be overcome to do so?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. Recognizing the vital role family
readiness volunteers play in supporting Service members and their
families is important. Volunteerism is essential to implementing
military family support programs. Command-sponsored support groups run
by volunteers range from informal to formal organizations of spouses
and Service members' parents or significant others and meet social
needs for camaraderie, companionship, information, and serve as a forum
to relieve loneliness and stress during deployment or periods of family
separation. They also play a vital role in communication between
commanders and families.
Volunteer burnout and out-of-pocket expenses have been reported
throughout military programs worldwide. While a robust volunteer
network is crucial to support military families during times of
deployment, we also acknowledge that more paid staff to support
volunteers is needed. The Department is aware of the stress many of
these dedicated volunteers are dealing with on a daily basis. The
military components continue to look for ways to increase support to
volunteers and to provide them with additional tools and resources. The
Army has increased spending to over $45 million to hire 1,000 full-time
staff to support the Family Readiness Program. The Marine Corps is
spending $30 million over two years to shift from volunteers to paid
staff. The Department applauds the Services' efforts to assist
volunteers by providing family readiness support to units down to the
battalion level to help relieve some of the overworked volunteers. We
understand more is needed.
While military commanders may not compensate volunteers for the
services they provide, they may reimburse them from appropriated or
non-appropriated funds for incidental expenses incurred in providing
services, including but not limited to long distance telephone calls,
commuting, and childcare.
Mrs. Davis. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps
ombudsmen in my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the
lack of access to funds that could be used to help reduce the financial
burden on our volunteers or provide recognition for their service. Have
the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family
support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would be the issues
that need to be overcome to do so?
Sergeant Major Preston. The Army has made provisions to defray the
costs incurred by volunteers in the conduct of their official duties.
Army Regulations 608-1, Army Community Service Center and 215-1,
Military Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Programs and Nonappropriated
Fund Instrumentalities outline the use of appropriated and non-
appropriated fund support for Family Readiness Group volunteers. These
regulations provide detailed guidance for commanders and volunteers on
how to obtain reimbursement for childcare expenses, mileage, telephone
calls, and other appropriate expenses. Both regulations also address
the use of funds to support awards and recognition ceremonies.
Since 2007, the Army has added over 1,000 paid Family Readiness
Support Assistants (FRSAs) who, under the supervision of unit
commanders, work solely to ease the burden on volunteer Family
Readiness Group (FRG) leaders. FRSAs do not replace volunteer FRG
leaders, but rather provide administrative and logistical assistance,
allowing volunteer FRG leaders to concentrate on assisting Families.
FRSAs may also liaise between the FRG leader and the rear detachment
commander.
Mrs. Davis. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps
ombudsmen in my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the
lack of access to funds that could be used to help reduce the financial
burden on our volunteers or provide recognition for their service. Have
the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family
support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would be the issues
that need to be overcome to do so?
Sergeant Major Kent. Reimbursement of volunteers for incidental
expenses in support of their unit's personal and family readiness
program or in support of training programs provided by Marine Corps
Family Team Building has been a top priority for Marine leaders prior
to the development and implementation of the new Unit, Personal and
Family Readiness Program. Such incidental expenses include mileage,
telephone calls, tolls, parking, and childcare. These types of expenses
are authorized for reimbursement using either appropriated funds or
non-appropriated funds. Funding for volunteer reimbursement is subject
to reasonable limitations established by Commanders as there may be
competing requirements to consider. Currently, Marine Corps units
located aboard Marine Corps installations are only authorized non-
appropriated funds to support the personal and family readiness
program, which includes volunteer reimbursements. Non-appropriated
funding is the more available, flexible and usable type of funding for
personal and family readiness events.
Mrs. Davis. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps
ombudsmen in my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the
lack of access to funds that could be used to help reduce the financial
burden on our volunteers or provide recognition for their service. Have
the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family
support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would be the issues
that need to be overcome to do so?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. Although Ombudsmen do not expect a
salary, the Navy recognizes that serving as a command volunteer should
not result in financial hardship and that Ombudsmen do occasionally
incur expenses during the performance of their duties. Many of the
expenses are authorized for reimbursement by OPNAVINST 1750.1F, 5.d(8),
and such reimbursement is the responsibility of the commanding officer.
Ombudsmen with children, ages 0-12, performing official duties are
authorized child care through the Navy Child and Youth Programs at no
cost.
Commanding officers must provide appropriate funding resource
support to the Ombudsman Program. The funding line item to support the
Ombudsman Program may use appropriated funds (APF) or non-appropriated
funds (NAF). Based on a survey of 1,389 Ombudsmen in October 2007, 80%
responded that they have no difficulty receiving reimbursements.
Recognition of Ombudsmen is vitally important, and commands are
encouraged to show their appreciation in a variety of ways using non-
appropriated funds. While Ombudsman Appreciation Day is 14 September,
through ongoing interaction, commands regularly show Ombudsmen their
service is valued through appreciation dinners, ombudsman plaques and
awards.
Mrs. Davis. Often when I meet with the Navy and Marine Corps
ombudsmen in my district, one of the common concerns that I hear is the
lack of access to funds that could be used to help reduce the financial
burden on our volunteers or provide recognition for their service. Have
the Services thought about providing appropriated funds to family
support volunteers to help defray their costs? What would be the issues
that need to be overcome to do so?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. Appropriated funds must be used for
mission essential tasks. Appropriate funds are only available to help
recognize volunteers who help carry out official Air Force functions.
Nonappropriated funds and private organization funding is typically
used to provide funding to recognize the contribution of volunteers.
Mrs. Davis. When we think of military families, most think of the
spouse and children. However, not all service members are married, but
yet their families--mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support
services when a single service member is deployed. What is the
Department and the Services doing to support the families of single
service members?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. The Department provides information
and referral services and resources to parents of service members
through Military OneSource 24/7, 365 days a year.
The Military Services provide information and referral and
resources to family members including parents and siblings before,
during and after return of a member from deployment. Information about
the resources is provided during pre-deployment outreach and workshops;
through command newsletters and e-messaging; through outreach from rear
detachment staff and/or family programs during deployment; and during
reintegration and post-deployment workshops and training. Additionally,
the Services invite parents to participate in Family Readiness Groups
during deployment.
Mrs. Davis. When we think of military families, most think of the
spouse and children. However, not all service members are married, but
yet their families--mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support
services when a single service member is deployed. What is the
Department and the Services doing to support the families of single
service members?
Sergeant Major Preston. The Army uses many service delivery
mechanisms to inform all Soldiers (single and married) and immediate or
extended Families on available services and programs. Army OneSource
(www.armyonesource.com) is a focal point for information delivery,
which provides accurate, up-to-date information on a variety of topics
for Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Soldiers and Family members. In
fiscal year 2008, Army OneSource had more than 20 million hits per
month. The Family Program Newsletter, a monthly update of topics
related to Family readiness, is e-mailed to more than 75,000
subscribers who sign up at Army OneSource.
Family Readiness Groups (FRGs) provide a critical link between
extended Families, Soldiers, and units before, during, and after
deployments. FRG membership is open to Soldiers, civilian employees,
and immediate and extended Family members (parents, siblings, fiancees,
and other loved ones designated by the Soldier). Virtual FRGs provide
all the functionality of an FRG in an ad-hoc, online setting to meet
the needs of geographically dispersed units and Families. The eArmy
Family Messaging System is another tool for commanders to deliver
messages through multiple devices such as phone, cell, text, PDA, and
fax.
Mrs. Davis. When we think of military families, most think of the
spouse and children. However, not all service members are married, but
yet their families--mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support
services when a single service member is deployed. What is the
Department and the Services doing to support the families of single
service members?
Sergeant Major Kent. Today, the Marine Corps Family is defined as
more than just the traditional nuclear family definition of parents and
children. Marines, their spouses and children, by default, should
always be the primary focus of family readiness support. However, we
readily acknowledge the role extended family members may play in
fostering personal and family readiness, for both single and married
Marines. Our Unit, Personal and Family Readiness Program was developed
to be inclusive of this valuable support resource. Single Marines and
supported sister-service members may now designate up to four contacts
to receive official communication from their command and have access to
the information and referral support provided by the unit Family
Readiness Officer and the enhanced training opportunities.
Additionally, we are in the research and development phase for the
design of our organizational communication system, which will
facilitate all-way communication for Marines, spouses and designated/
extended family contacts and provide a portal for authorized users to
access information on services available across a spectrum of programs.
This endeavor is the capstone to implementing the Commandant of the
Marine Corps' Guidance to ``Improve the quality of life for our Marines
and our families,'' with the specific goal of ``Ensuring our Family and
Single Marine Programs have fully transitioned to a wartime footing in
order to fulfill the promises made to our families.''
Mrs. Davis. When we think of military families, most think of the
spouse and children. However, not all service members are married, but
yet their families--mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support
services when a single service member is deployed. What is the
Department and the Services doing to support the families of single
service members?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. All Sailors, to include single
Sailors, have access to services provided at Fleet and Family Support
Centers, to include deployment support, relocation assistance, clinical
counseling, sexual assault and domestic abuse victim advocacy, personal
financial management, life skills education, and transition assistance.
We engage a single Sailor's preferred point of contact during an IA
assignment or the designated caregivers of seriously wounded, ill and
injured single Sailors. We otherwise provide information to family
members of single Sailors through our family support website, command
Ombudsman program, and recently launched a Fleet and Family Support
Programs Facebook page. Military OneSource and Military Homefront
websites, as well as the Joint Family Support and Assistance Program,
provide resources and information which are beneficial for family
members of single service members.
Depending on geographic location, extended family members are
invited to attend family day events, deployment briefings, family
readiness group events, and Returning Warrior Workshops, which are
signature events of the Navy Reserve Reintegration (Yellow Ribbon)
program.
Mrs. Davis. When we think of military families, most think of the
spouse and children. However, not all service members are married, but
yet their families--mothers, fathers, siblings may need similar support
services when a single service member is deployed. What is the
Department and the Services doing to support the families of single
service members?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. Since Operation Desert Storm, Hearts
Apart (HA) is a vital element of deployment readiness activities hosted
by the Airman & Family Readiness Centers (A&FRC) to help families stay
connected to Airmen. Hearts Apart activities focus on deployment
support for Airmen & families during pre-deployment and sustainment. HA
also includes support to families separated due to extended TDY lasting
30 days or more and to families whose Airman is on a remote assignment.
A&FRC offer a baseline of Hearts Apart services to aid families in
feeling connected to the Air Force community. Morale Calls through base
operators allow Airmen and their family members to connect through the
Defense Switching Network (DSN) at a rate of 1 call per week for 15
minutes. Discovery Resource Centers allow computer access with webcams
for family members to uplink with Airmen at deployed locations and some
have video teleconferencing capabilities. Air Force Aid Society (AFAS)
Community Enhancement Programs such as Give Parents a Break and Car
Care Because we Care provide free child care and car safety checks.
One hundred percent (100%) of Airmen are required to receive a pre-
deployment briefing from the A&FRC at which time they identify family
members left behind. Although some services are limited to family
members enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting
System, support may be extended simply through a newsletter, email, or
phone call to parents, siblings, or significant others. At the
briefing, all Airmen are asked by A&FRC personnel to identify family
members or significant others that may require assistance or
information during a deployment. A&FRC personnel distribute information
and maintain monthly contact with family members or significant others
in multiple ways. Outreach focuses on face-to face meetings at
community events for family members of deployed Airmen.
The Air Force is currently working on Caring for People initiatives
that examine closely and enhance the support we specifically provide to
single Airmen.
Mrs. Davis. Mr. Myer, given the recent survey data from DMDC on the
impact of deployments on children, is the Department of Defense
undertaking any longitudinal studies on this issue that may be able to
shed more light on what is needed to assist families under the stress
of constant and extended separations due to the continued combat
deployment of troops?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. The Department of Defense is launching
a longitudinal component of the DMDC survey program in fiscal year
2010. A representative sample of Active Duty members and spouses will
be followed over the next two years to better understand the stresses
of deployments on families as well as the extent of existing support
systems.
Mrs. Davis. Mr. Myer, the recent study on combat related deployment
on school age children conducted by the National Institute for Child
and Human Development looked at the impact of deployments on children
from ages 6 through 12. However, a recent DMDC survey found that
children most impacted were between the ages of 0 to 5 years old. Are
there any additional studies being conducted that would look at this
specific population of children and what sort of prevention and
treatment models may be needed to support these children and their
caretakers?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. In the 2008 DMDC Active Duty Spouse
Survey, spouses did indicate their child most impacted by deployment
was 0-5 (53%). While important to note, it is driven by the
demographics of the sample, 59% of whom had children in that age group.
The average age of the most impacted child as reported by the parent
was 6.1 years old.
Boston University School of Social Work and the Boston Medical
Center have received a four year grant from the Department of Defense
(Army) to develop a family-based program to support the healthy
reintegration of soldiers into their families. Designed for families
with children ages birth to five years old, the goal of this home-based
family program is to mitigate the impact of combat and separation-
related stress upon the parent-child and family relationships.
Through Coming Together Around Military Families (CTAMF), ZERO TO
THREE has provided training, consultation, and materials to 12 military
installations and 2 medical centers around the nation; and provided
support to several Joint Family Support Assistance Programs (JFSAP) as
a means of addressing the unique needs of Guard and Reserve families.
ZERO TO THREE contracted with the Military Family Research Institute at
Purdue University to conduct a formal evaluation of the CTAMF trainings
and anticipate having a final report in October.
Resources, prevention and treatment programs currently being
implemented are:
Child and Youth Behavioral Military Family Life
Consultants (CYB-MFLC) provide support to children, parents, faculty,
or staff at Child Development Centers, schools, and camps.
- Support 151 child and youth programs on military
installations.
- During the 2009-2010 school year, 86 CYB-MFLCs will support
97 schools world-wide.
- 30 CYB-MFLCs support Joint Family Support Programs in 30
states to serve families who are geographically isolated from
installation services.
- During the summer of 2009 more than 400 MFLCs are supporting
more than 300 summer camps with approximately 24,000 children.
Military OneSource provides face-to-face, electronic, and
telephonic counseling on parenting/child issues and provides a myriad
of other support and services to families.
Coming Together Around Military Families is a Department
partnership with ZERO TO THREE to help build awareness of the impact of
separation, injury, and loss on families with babies and toddlers. This
program provides direct in-service training to DoD helping
professionals in the fields of mental health, child development, family
support, and pediatrics.
www.militarystudent.org is a website that offers an on-
line course for educators and counselors to build their awareness of
the impact of deployment and the military lifestyle to build systems of
support.
Military Child Education Coalition provides Living in the
New Normal courses for stakeholders interested in supporting military
children as well as National Guard and Reserves Institutes.
Parents as Teachers is an internationally renown home
visitation program deployed to high opstempo locations to support
school readiness, identify special needs, and support optimum parenting
skills.
Project FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress) is a
family-centered resiliency training program based on evidenced-based
interventions that enhance understanding, psychological health and
developmental outcomes for highly stressed children and families. FOCUS
has been adapted for military families facing multiple deployments,
combat operational stress and physical injuries in a family member. In
March of 2008, the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) built a
partnership with the UCLA Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human
Behavior to implement the FOCUS Project for United States Navy and
Marine Corps families in order to address the impact of multiple
deployments, combat stress, and high operational tempo on children and
families. Through this unique collaboration, FOCUS services augment
existing Navy Medicine and Navy and Marine Corps community support
programs such as the Fleet and Family Centers and the Marine Corps
Community Services in order to provide a comprehensive system of care
that supports family readiness and wellness.
Military Families Learning Community: The major goals of
the Military Families Learning Community are: 1) Provide education and
training to National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) category II
and III sites on a variety of military-related issues; 2) Provide
consultation and technical assistance to NCTSN Category II and III
sites to facilitate NCTSN sites' ability to provide trauma-informed,
evidenced-based interventions to military families and children; 3)
Identify key national and regional partnerships with NCTSN Category II
and III sites, TRICARE, military treatment facilities, medical
providers, and other federal, state and local partners, in order to
provide a continuum and excellence of services for military families
and children; 4) Extend knowledge and evidence based practices from
NCTSN to larger community of providers to military families and
children.
Mrs. Davis. Colonel Lyman, how are Reserve and Guard families being
informed of programs and services available to them, particularly
opportunities to participate in Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Programs.
Are families being provided the resources to be able to travel to these
events?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. The Yellow Ribbon Program provides
support across the entire deployment cycle and the success of Yellow
Ribbon Programs and Family Readiness Programs are essential for unit
readiness. Commanders at the deploying-unit level are responsible to
communicate these programs throughout their organizations.
The following resources help commanders communicate these programs:
1) Well-developed family programs that include trained volunteers
and formal and informal communication networks (e.g.: the Navy
Reserve's Fleet and Family Support Programs or the National Guard
Family Program)
2) Unit and family program newsletters sent to members and their
families
3) The Yellow Ribbon Program web-based event scheduling tool
(www.dodyrrp.org) that allows Service members and their families to
locate Yellow Ribbon events close to their homes. The scheduling tool
opened on July 1, 2009.
4) Web-based tools that are advertised by the host Services and
organizations that give families direct access to critical resources.
For example:
Military OneSource at www.militaryonesource.com
DoD Military Community and Family Policy at
www.militaryhomefront.com
National Guard Bureau at
www.jointservicessupport.org/fp/
Organizations such as National Military Family
Association at www.nmfa.org
Regarding family travel to Yellow Ribbon events, DoD policy
requires the Services to budget for pay, allowances, and travel for
members along with travel and allowances for an established number of
family members (each service establishes its family attendance
guidelines).
Mrs. Davis. Colonel Lyman, studies have shown that the deployments
impact our military children, given the unique challenges faced by
Guard and Reserve families, what are the Department and the individual
reserve components doing to ensure that families have access to the
services and programs that they need particularly mental health
resources?
Mr. Myers and Colonel Lyman. The well-being of Guard and Reserve
children is of great concern to the Department of Defense and numerous
military and community resources are in place for support. Every
Reserve component has established child and youth programs to ensure
support services reach military families. Furthermore, with Guard and
Reserve members living in over 4000 communities nationwide, military
and community resources work in combination to serve the health and
mental health needs of military children.
During and following deployment, Reserve component families have:
Full access to TRICARE resources (and civilian employer
insurance where applicable)
Military OneSource available 24/7 for local access to
masters-level, licensed therapists for up to 12 sessions per issue
Military Family Life Consultants (masters-level
counselors) available in every state
In addition, a variety of non-profit programs exist to provide
support to RC families who are geographically dispersed. These efforts
include, among others:
Operation Military Kids (OMK) an organization that
supports the children and youth impacted by deployment. OMK has reached
88,000 military youth and provided information to 21,009 community
members across the United States
Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) is a non-
profit, world-wide organization focused on military children affected
by mobility, family separation, and transition ensuring they receive
quality educational opportunities
Children's Camps and Educational Opportunities have been
established to reach out specifically to military children and youth.
For example, National Military Family Association (NMFA) established
and supports Operation Purple Camp which in 2009 will host nearly 90
weeks of camp in 62 locations in 37 states and territories. Purple
camps have hosted over 20,000 kids since they started in 1994.
Mrs. Davis. Sergeant Major Preston, one of the issues that have
been raised is the Army provides 16 hours of respite care to families
of deployed soldiers, but the problem is that the child care facilities
are fully subscribed and are unable to provide the hours to families.
Can you tell us is this specific to a handful of bases or a system-wide
problem?
Sergeant Major Preston. The Army has found no indication of a
system-wide problem in offering 16 hours of respite child care (per
child, per month) to the families of deployed Soldiers. While respite
care in a Child Development Center (CDC) setting may not always be
available ``on demand'' at every garrison, the Army has a wide variety
of delivery methods beyond the CDC setting that allow the garrisons to
meet the needs of most parents that wish to use it.
Deployment respite care has been a key benefit to mitigate the
stress felt by Soldiers and Families as a result of frequent
deployment. Deployment respite care is provided through multiple
delivery options, in addition to child care centers, to include Family
child care homes, on-site child care sessions, summer camps for school-
aged children, child development homes, and trained babysitters. Since
February 2008, over 1.1 million respite care hours have been provided
across Army Garrisons making this service one of our best received
offerings system-wide.
Mrs. Davis. Sergeant Major Kent, as you know, the Marine Corps and
TriWest, the TRICARE contractor for the western region, have put
together a pilot program to address the needs of autistic children at
Camp Pendleton. Do you know the current status of this pilot program
and are there any outcomes that may be useful as we seek to address
support services for autistic children of military families?
Sergeant Major Kent. The ``Enhanced Access to Autism Services
Demonstration'' project, which took effect in March 2008, is being
administered through TRICARE and allows eligible beneficiaries to have
access to a greater range of existing evidence-based Educational
Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders (EIA) services, through an
expanded network of educational intervention providers. Based on an
informal survey, families at Camp Pendleton are aware of TRICARE's
Demonstration project and are accessing its services. Nevertheless, we
believe that even with the enhanced plan, current TRICARE coverage is
insufficient for complete ASD medical services, particularly Applied
Behavioral Analysis (ABA).
Mrs. Davis. Master Chief Petty Officer West, the Navy has a
significant population of Individual Augmentees deployed. What efforts
has the Navy taken to provide the necessary support to their families
that are no longer part of a ship or unit or may be geographically
separated from a base?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. The Individual Deployment Support
Program begins 60 days prior to deployment and continues 180 days post
deployment. An Individual Deployment Support Specialist (IDSS) from the
Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) initiates contact with the IA
Sailors and their family within 10 business days of receipt of a new
file. Recurring contact, assessment and support, at an interval
requested by the family, is provided by an IDSS and Command IA
Coordinator. Support includes contact either by phone or in person,
assessment of family needs, discussion of available family support
programs and services nearest to the family, facilitated referrals to
nearby services, if requested, and mailing of IA information and
materials. Efforts to reach remotely located families impacted by
nontraditional duty assignments include using information technology to
provide virtual IA family discussion groups and workshops, publishing a
monthly family newsletter and IA Family Handbooks. When practical,
deployment support programs and services have been adapted and provided
specifically for family members of individual deployers. To date, FFSC
Individual Deployment Support Specialists have served over 26,200
families of individual deployers.
Command Ombudsmen are trained on the unique challenges and issues
faced by families of Individual Augmentees and geographically dispersed
families. As trained volunteers, Command Ombudsmen serve a vital two-
way communication link between command leadership and family members
providing personalized support and guidance to families adapting to the
challenges of a mobile military lifestyle and extended operations
necessary to meet the Navy's maritime strategy. There are currently
over 2,200 registered Navy Family Ombudsmen. Fleet and Family Support
Centers provide training, consultation, coordination and support to
Ombudsmen.
The Navy Reserve Psychological Health Outreach Program provides two
Outreach Coordinators and three Outreach team members to each Reserve
Region (for a total of 25). These coordinators and team members provide
outreach, support, and intervention to returning reservists and their
family members to mitigate existing stressors and to address future
concerns. The newly established DoD Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program
provides Reserve Component (RC) Service Members and their families
support through all phases of the deployment cycle. The military
services are sharing information regarding their deployment support
programs so that RC personnel and families can attend events as close
to their residence as possible. We are also using resources provided by
Military OneSource, Joint Family Support and Assistance Programs, and
the State National Guard Family Program Offices to deliver this
critical information to our remotely located families.
Mrs. Davis. The Army and Marine Corps recently began to hire paid
family support personnel to assist with administrative support. Does
the Navy have similar paid support personnel to help with your
programs? If not, why has your service chosen not to support paid
family support personnel?
Master Chief Petty Officer West. The primary focus of the Navy
Family Ombudsman Program is command communication, information, and
referral. Ombudsmen are trained volunteers that liaison between
commands and their families to keep the command informed regarding the
overall health, morale, and welfare of command families. The program is
designed to improve mission readiness through family readiness. A
strong command Ombudsman Program ensures that families have the
information necessary to meet the challenges of a military lifestyle.
All Ombudsman Coordinators are paid positions that provide
administrative support to commands and Ombudsmen. The support includes
scheduling Ombudsman Basic Trainings and Advanced Trainings, and
working with the local Ombudsman Assembly. They also coordinate and
track training records for Command Ombudsmen, assist with the
development of email and telephone trees, develop and maintaining
rosters, and ensure that command and Ombudsman information is updated
in the CNIC Ombudsman Registry.
The Navy Preparedness Alliance (NPA) consists of five major
commands that oversee the vast majority of programs affecting Sailors
and their families. The principle NPA members are US Fleet Forces
Command, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Chief of Naval Personnel,
Chief of Reserve Forces and Commander Navy Installations Command. Their
July meeting they assigned the NPA Working Group a task to conduct a
Business Case Analysis (BCA) on the feasibility of hiring Family
Readiness Advisors (FRA). The FRA would help in readiness and
deployment support, dissemination of information and referral, serve as
a command's official communication to family members, and they would
provide commands assistance in volunteer management.
The Marine Corps Family Readiness Officer Program (FRO), a paid
position, differs from the Ombudsman program, in that FROs have a
higher level of responsibility within the command. In addition to
serving as the liaison between the command and families they also
manage, coordinate, and promote all matters pertaining to family
readiness. As the primary point of contact concerning unit family
readiness, the FRO is the subject matter expert for readiness events,
conducts unit commander briefings, and ensures directives regarding
family readiness posture are current.
Mrs. Davis. Chief Master Sergeant Roy, how does the Air Force get
information out to its families that may need support, particularly
those families who may not live on a base or who was sent as an
individual augmentee to a theatre of operation?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. Our main vehicle for getting information
to Airmen's families is the Airman and Family Readiness Center (A&FRC).
While the center is focused on Airmen who are deploying, including
individual augmentees, services are available to any Airman assigned to
a particular base, including those who live off base. If they are
unaware of A&FRC services prior to deployment, they will become aware
because attendance at the A&FRC predeployment briefing is mandatory for
all deploying Airman. At the briefing, all Airmen are asked by A&FRC
personnel to identify family members or significant others that may
require assistance or information during a deployment. A&FRC personnel
distribute information and maintain monthly contact with family members
or significant others in multiple ways. Outreach focuses on face-to-
face meetings at community events for family members of deployed
Airmen.
A&FRCs take extra care to pinpoint whether the family will remain
in the surrounding military community or choose to temporarily relocate
to be near their familial support systems. Families are connected with
the Airman & Family Readiness Center nearest to their location during
the deployment.
Mrs. Davis. The Army and Marine Corps recently began to hire paid
family support personnel to assist with administrative support. Does
the Air Force have similar paid support personnel to help with your
programs? If not, why has your service chosen not to support paid
family support personnel?
Chief Master Sergeant Roy. The Air Force executes family readiness
group responsibilities through numerous programs, including the Key
Spouse program which has been successful through the support of
volunteers and Air Force members.
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