Month of the Military Child (April 2013)

04/2013

April is the month of the Military Child. This special celebration is a legacy of former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and was established to underscore the important role children play in the Armed Forces community. According to Military K-12 Partners [1], today there are more than 1.2 million military children, and since 2001 approximately 2 million children have experienced deployment of a parent. Care of military children sustains our fighting force, and strengthens the health, security, and safety of our nation's families and communities. The Network offers special thanks to all the NCTSN sites that provide care and support for our military children and families.

Page Contents

Military Families Learning Community [2]
[2]

In 2011 the NCTSN launched the Military Families Learning Community Master Speaker Series and Podcasts [2]as a course in the NCTSN Learning Center for Child and Adolescent Trauma [3]. The podcast series, "Essentials for Those Who Care for Military Children and Families," features 20-minute presentations from top military experts discussing army, navy, air force, and marine corps cultures; mental health services available for active duty, veteran, National Guard and Reserve personnel; the impact of deployment on military children and families; becoming a TRICARE [4] provider; Military OneSource [5]; and building community capacity to serve military families. The Speaker Series offers longer webinars on additional topics. All Learning Center presentations are free.

Featured Resources in Celebration of the Month of the Military Child

Courage to Care to Talk... About War Injuries [6]
A campaign to foster communication around the injuries of war that debuted during April 2011's Month of the Military Child. Provides military treatment sites with free resources in English and Spanish including brochures, posters, tabletops, and a dedicated website. Developed by the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress [7] and its Child and Family Program [8], the campaign connects families to providers in hospitals who can answer their questions, talk with them about their children, refer them to appropriate resources, and address other concerns related to their loved one's injury.

Operation Purple® [9]
A free week-long summer camp program offering military kids a place to have fun and make friends, reminding them that they are our nation's youngest heroes. The goal is to "empower military children and their families to develop and maintain healthy and connected relationships." Created by the National Military Family Association [10] in 2004, the camps are joint (or "purple")—open to children and families of all active duty, National Guard, and Reserve service members of all branches. Now serving 45,000 military children and teens, the program also includes four-day family retreats in National Parks, and family camps for "active duty or medically retired service members who were wounded or experienced emotional trauma or illness related to their service in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom." Camp locations, dates, and contact information will be available when registration opens on March 31, 2012.

When Families Grieve [11]
A Sesame Workshop [12] program developed to help children heal after the death of a parent. Includes two outreach kits (one for military families and one for the general public), available in English and Spanish. The program is part of the workshop's award-winning Talk, Listen, Connect [13] initiative, which provides resources and emotional support to military families with young children coping with the challenging transitions in their lives including deployments and combat-related injury.

For Advocates and Policy Makers

National Center for Children in Poverty [14]

Trauma Faced by Children of Military Families: What Every Policymaker Should Know [15](2010) (PDF)
Presents the multiple stressors that children of active duty military personnel, National Guard, and Reservists often experience during their parents' multiple deployments. Includes 2010 statistics on the 1.76 million children and youth in military families. Topics are: Impact of Deployments on Children’s Mental Health including mental health, trauma, and related problems; Role of Employment Status on Child Outcomes; Resilience and Importance of Support Systems; Inadequacy of Military and Civilian Mental Health Systems for Addressing the Problems Faced by Children and Families of Military Personnel; and Effective Public Policies Can Improve Mental Health Outcomes for Children of Military Families.

For Educators

American Association of School Administrators [16]

AASA Toolkit: Supporting the Military Child [17]
Guidance to help school leaders meet the needs of military children whose parents are deployed or in transition. Includes tips, fact sheets, a Q&A, videos, and additional resources.

For Families and Communities

Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury
[18]“Assesses, validates, oversees and facilitates prevention, resilience, identification, treatment, outreach, rehabilitation, and reintegration programs for psychological health (PH) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) to ensure the Department of Defense meets the needs of the nation's military communities, warriors and families.”

Children of Military Service Members Resource Guide [19] (2011) (PDF)
An online resource to assist families and healthcare providers in addressing the mental and emotional needs of military children. Identifies age-appropriate resources on community, deployment, homecoming, mental/emotional health, and moving.

MilitaryHOMEFRONT Children & Youth
[20]“Department of Defense website for official Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP) program information, policy and guidance designed to help troops and their families, leaders, and service providers.”

Guide for Helping Children and Youth Cope with Separation [21](PDF)
Created for parents, relatives, teachers, service members, and community members. Includes the effects of seperation on children and youth ages 7–18; audience-specific information, tips, and resources; and a reference list.

National Military Family Association [10]
An organization that is comprised of and works on behalf of military to "empower husbands, wivesm and children to understand and access their benefits."

10 Things Military Teens Want You to Know [22] (2008) (PDF)
Tips developed from a four-year project that surveyed military children about their experiences while attending Operation Purple® [9] camps, a national summer camp program for children of service members. Designed to help the people who are in the lives of military teens in managing the stressors and affirming the positive aspects of military life; explains some points shared by the campers; includes resources to incorporate into readers' own activities, programs, and day-to-day interactions with the military teens in their life.
Finding Common Ground: A Toolkit for Communities Supporting Military Families [23] (2011)
Offers "easily-achievable action items and useful resources to guide anyone who wants to support military families, but doesn’t know where to start."
The "So Far" Guide for Helping Children and Youth Cope with the Deployment of a Parent in the Military Reserves [24] (2005) (PDF)
A publication of SOFAR (Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists) that provides information to help families understand and support children throughout their deployment experience. Among the topics are: How Age Affects a Child’s Ability to Understand the Developments and Needs in Dealing with the Deployment, Common Reactions to Deployment, What Parents Can Do to Help Their Child, What Schools Can Do to Support Children and Families Dealing with the Deployment of a Parent, and Guide for Pediatricians that Treat Children Whose Parents Have Been Deployed into the Active Reserves.

Our Military Kids [25]
Provides substantial support through grants to the children of National Guard and Military Reserve personnel currently deployed overseas and to the children of Wounded Warriors in all branches.

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences [26]

Courage to Care Campaign [27]
Electronic health campaign for military and civilian professionals who serve the military community, and for military men, and families. Includes fact sheets on timely health topics relevant to military life that provide actionable information. Developed by leading military health experts from the university.

Helping Children Cope During Deployment [28] (2006) (PDF)
Developed by "experts in military medicine and family trauma who understand the impact of delopyment on families." Includes Commonly Asked Questions from Parents About Delopyment, General Tips for Communicating With Chidlren of All Ages, and Additional Resources.

For Mental Health and Medical Professionals

Zero to Three [29]

Honoring Our Babies & Toddlers: Supporting Young Children Affected by a Military Parent's Deployment, Injury or Death: A Guide For Caring Professionals [30] (2009) (PDF)
A three-part guide: (1) Working With Military Families in a Wartime Environment; (2) Situations That Families and Their Babies and Toddlers May Be Experiencing; and (3) Creating Respectful, Responsive Relationships With Families / Supporting Babies and Toddlers, which explores five key relationship-building strategies.

Additional NCTSN Resources

Military Children and Families

Military Children and Families: Programs and Projects [31]
Programs and projects in support of military children and families that work with the NCTSN to conduct research on, develop resources for, and provide assistance to military families.
Traumatic Grief in Military Children [32]
Culturally competent materials for educating families, medical professionals, and school personnel about how to better serve military children who are experiencing traumatic grief; additional resources for families, educators, and service providers.