Week 2: Dual and Single Military Families
ENLISTED MARRIED ARMY COUPLES MAY NOW POST ADDITIONAL PREFERENCE INFORMATION IN THE ASSIGNMENT SATISFACTION KEY (ASK). A NEW FEATURE PROVIDES MACP (ENL MARRIED TO ENL) THE CAPABILITY TO INDICATE A PREFERENCE FOR SIMULTANEOUS DEPLOYMENT CYCLES. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST COMMANDERS AS THEY DEEM APPROPRIATE.
—MILPER Message 06-363, Voluntary Deployment Preference Initiative for the Married Army Couples Program (2007)
Out of all U.S. active military personnel in 2013, 90,000, or 6.5% of them are in dual-military marriages, and 73,000 (5%) are single military parents (Mixon, 2013). The responsibilities of managing parental, household, and financial responsibilities coupled with a military career can be extremely stressful. Both dual military and single parents have specialized needs and as a helping professional it is important to recognize those needs to provide specialized support.
This week, you examine the stressors and needs of dual and single family parents and consider the strategies needed to provide effective support. In addition, you create a template for a Family Care Plan.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze needs of military families
Analyze strategies to support military families
Create a Family Care Plan template
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Lee, A. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online, March 28). Face of defense: single parents lead households, squadrons. Retrieved from https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1477835/face-of-defense-single-parents-lead-households-squadrons/
U.S. Department of Defense. (2017, May 16). Face of defense: Dual-military couple tackles challenges. Retrieved from https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1183842/face-of-defense-dual-military-couple-tackles-challenges/source/GovDelivery/
Sullivan, M. E. (2013). Introduction to the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody And Visitation Act. Family Law Quarterly, 47(1), 97-135.
Optional Resources
Military OneSource. (n.d.). Balancing work and life as a dual military couple. Retrieved June 20, 2014: 2024 – Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay For Me Without Delay, from http://www.militaryonesource.mil/health-wellness/marriage?content_id=269212
Nordman, D. (2011). Dual military couples [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://the-military-guide.com/2011/06/13/dual-military-couples/
Real Warriors Campaign. (n.d.). Maintain family strength when both parents deploy. Retrieved June 14, 2014: 2024 – Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay For Me Without Delay, from http://www.realwarriors.net/active/treatment/deployedparents.php
Smith, M. (2003). When mom and dad are in the military. Parents. Retrieved from http://www.parents.com/parenting/dynamics/military/when-mom-dad-are-in-the-military/?page=2
Wilson, E. (2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer, March). Care plan to encompass more military families. American Forces Press Service. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=58339
Discussion: Dual Military Families
Dual military families are ones whose spouses are both in military service, and they are becoming more common. They might be in the same branch or different branches. The challenges for dual military families can be extensive and they may require a lot of support, particularly those who have children.
For this Discussion, select one of the following scenarios:
Imagine a married military couple serving in the same military branch, and both members have received new orders. One’s orders are for the West Coast of the United States and the other’s are for the East Coast of the United States. They have one child and a lot of family support from extended family members.
Imagine a married military couple serving in separate branches, the Air Force and the Army. They have three children, one of whom ha s asthma. One received orders for Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. The other is stationed in Germany for three years.
As a helping professional, what means of support or strategies might you recommend to aid the family you selected?
By Day 3
Post an explanation of how the support or strategies you recommend might be effective. Select a scholarly resource to support your recommendations.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.
By Day 5
Respond to two or more colleagues with suggestions for additional supports or strategies you believe might be helpful in their scenarios.
Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Response 1
Kimberly Morgan RE: Discussion – Week 2COLLAPSE
To assist the military couple serving in the same military branch with one child. Both parents have received two different orders however, they are not deployment orders. Yes, the family has a lot of family support however, the family one child can continue living with one of the parents. There is no need to separate the child from both parents, the case study doesn’t state their child’s age. New orders for the dual military family provide location and dates. The case study didn’t say which branch the dual family is assigned to. For example; the case study doesn’t indicate if the parents are in the Navy and the new orders are for land or at sea. Being a dual-military couple has several advantages and disadvantages. On the other hand, this dual-military couple will spend a lot of time apart because of their two different assignments. As a professional working with this family, I would assure effective resources are available. For example; non-medical counseling, communication workshops, create family care-plans, self-care techniques are encouraged, discussion of a realistic contingency plan, educational resources, on/off base housing. Financial and accounting information is helpful and strategies on joint assignments.
According to the article “An Evaluation of U.S. Military Non-Medical Counseling Programs” The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) provides short-term, solution-focused counseling for military and their families. Providing the family with some resources to assure an official family care plan is activities for the well-being of their child. Strategies for essential communicating for the family. Workshops to remember and honor their family goals. Focusing on making joint decisions and constantly re-aligning priorities to ensure mutual goals for both partners. Encourage the dual couple to look for joint assignments, have realistic contingency plans, and reach out for support if needed. Another strategy for the family is childcare/educational resources and on/off base living housing opportunities. In some cases, children constantly moving interrupts their education and can be stressful to adapt to new environments. Strategies for transferring school records. Student online achievement resources programs help families with education gaps associated with frequent moves and stay abreast of their child’s educational progress. Introduce spouse education and career opportunity programs and integrated education and training, career exploration, and career readiness. Counseling and career advancement account programs. The military spouse employment partnership assists spouses seek federal, regional, and local employment.
Trail, T. E., Martin, L. T., Burgette, L. F., May, L. W., Mahmud, A., Nanda, N., & Chandra, A. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). An Evaluation of U.S. Military Non-Medical Counseling Programs. Rand health quarterly, 8(2), 6.
Response 2
Kenechukwu Menakaya RE: Discussion – Week 2 Main PostCOLLAPSE
I am selecting the first scenario, about a married military couple serving in the same military branch, and both members have received new orders. One’s orders are for the West Coast of the United States and the other, the East Coast of the United States. They have one child and a lot of family support from extended family members. Most times, when both parents are deployed to different stations, one of the parents will take up the responsibility of (no matter the child’s age) double-duty parenting or their extended family might help. The challenge of being separated has been drastically reduced by modern technology, like video calls and how cheap international calls are nowadays.
In addition to their service to the country, they still must care for their family, which is where we as social workers come in. As social workers, we need to help provide a unique educational experience that offers opportunities for the children’s growth and development of resilience. Because these military children move six to nine times between kindergarten and high school, we need to consider creating educational plans necessary for support. Introducing the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), which is a program that assists in ensuring that service members are assigned to duty stations where their children’s special needs can be addressed, especially relative to the children specialists such as child psychiatrists, which may not be available in certain duty stations (Shaw, 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). The EFMP helps the military families navigate the medical and educational systems, to help reduce family stress. EFMP ensures that families document their needs, and those needs are considered during relocations. This is a vital aspect of coordinating the assignment process as appropriate medical and educational services may be limited in overseas and remote locations. EFMP is effective in providing the service members the opportunity to focus more clearly upon mission-related responsibilities due to the assurance that the family member’s needs are considered, planned, and supported (Shaw, 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online).
Reference
Shaw, A. (2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online). Educational resources for military-based families: Exceptional parent. https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/eds/pdfviewer?
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Submission and Grading Information
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 2 Discussion Rubric
Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5
To participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion
Assignment: Family Care Plan
A family care plan is not only important but mandatory for single and dual military parents. Many times, military personnel will meet with a member of the Family Support Center to create a family care plan. The care plan must include how military personnel will address issues or care of their family while deployed. If you are working on a military installation in a Family Support Center, it is likely you will help dual active duty or single parents create care plans.
For this Assignment, think about how you would assist military personnel in creating a family care plan for:
A dual military family
A single military family with one parent killed in combat
A single parent with limited extended family
Create a template for a family care plan that you might use with one of the parents listed.
What elements are necessary as part of a family care plan?
How might you approach an active duty military personnel who might be resistant to including specific details of his or her family care plan?
