DoD official outlines efforts to help families - Military Community, Spouse and Family Resources - Military Times

DoD official outlines efforts to help families

New Defense Department initiatives to help families include a broad review of education for military children, more employment and education opportunities for spouses, and expanded availability of child care, the department’s chief of family policy told a meeting of the Congressional Military Family Caucus on Thursday.

Defense officials are launching a 270-day educational review “to ensure a world-class education for all 1.2 million military children,” said Robert Gordon, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy.

About 1.1 million school-age military children attend public schools across the country; just 85,000 attend Department of Defense schools, he said. Another 70,000 attend public schools located on military installations. The broad review will look at how children are being prepared for the 21st century, he said.

About 70 percent of the nearly 800,000 military spouses want to work, Gordon said. The My Career Advancement Account program, which provides some funding for spouses of junior military personnel for associate’s degrees, licensing and certifications, is but “a tree in the forest” of current efforts to improve opportunities for education and employment, he said. Among those efforts is expanding the Army’s Spouse Employment Partnership program to provide connections to employment with national companies for all military spouses.

Asked by a military spouse about the Defense Department’s limitations to the MyCAA program — restricted last fall to spouses of junior military personnel, and closed to those pursuing bachelor’s and graduate degrees — Gordon said participants’ concerns are “on my mind. I think about that a lot.”

But he said the department had to scale it back after funding began to run dry. “We put the genie back in the bottle,” he said, and had to return to the program’s original focus of younger spouses. It now covers about 383,000 spouses, although he acknowledged that more than 350,000 others are also looking for help.

The department is looking at ways to find additional opportunity for spouses, he said.

As for child care, DoD has a shortfall of about 30,000 spaces, Gordon said. The department now has 923 child development centers worldwide to serve a population of 200,000 military children needing child care.

The services provide child care in centers and family child care homes; defense officials are working on a pilot program in 13 states to increase the number of spaces that provide child care that meet Defense Department standards of quality.

Gordon’s presentation was part of the initial meeting of the House Military Family Caucus, which is chaired by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Sanford D. Bishop Jr., D-Ga. Over the last two years, the caucus has grown to include 77 members — about 18 percent of the House. Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Richard Burr, R-N.C. co-chair the Senate Military Family Caucus.

McMorris Rodgers said her caucus intends to continue its discussion, with monthly meetings to delve into issues of concern to military families. “Some programs are working, and there are others that can be improved upon,” she said, adding that “frank discussions” should be held about programs and their effectiveness in meeting military families’ needs.

“We also need to accept the fiscal constraints of our nation and understand that not every good idea can be funded by the federal government,” she said.

The caucus’ goal is to bring people together and give military families “a stronger voice at the federal level,” she said.