Spotlight on: Innovations in Resources for Veteran Families

A recent study in Chicago, Illinois has focused on understanding the current services available for Veteran families with very young children, as well as identifying any gaps in services.  Several key issues have emerged from this effort.  To start, providers note that it is critical to ask all families, “Are you or is any member of your family military connected?  Have you or a family member experienced a combat deployment?”  Lack of awareness of families’ Veteran status impacts their engagement in needed services.  Secondly, a “system of care” approach is critical to support the needs of both Veterans and their families with young children.  As part of this, a method to assess services as “Veteran friendly” would be helpful.  Third, civilian human service agencies may benefit from additional training and support on the needs of Veterans and their families, as these agencies will be the primary source of care for Service members transitioning out of the military. This study was funded by the Prince Charitable Trusts of Chicago. Further work is planned to help build a city-wide strategy for supporting young children from Veteran families. 

Check It Out: Coming Together Around Veteran Families

Coming Together Around Military Families recently led a free one-day training at the California Endowment on April 05, 2012, which offered multidisciplinary professionals an opportunity to explore issues related to effectively serving young children in Veteran families.  Approximately 40 professionals attended from various organizations across the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  The training curriculum enhanced participants’ knowledge of early social-emotional growth and facilitated the development collaborative relationships across disciplines to promote systems building within the local Veteran family service community.  This event was supported through a grant from The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles with additional support from the UCLA Family Resiliency Center and the ZERO TO THREE Western Office in Los Angeles.  To learn more, click here to read a summary of the day. 

News You Can Use: Increasing Our Understanding of Young Children in Military Families

In March, 2012 the University of Southern California’s Center for Innovation and Research (USC-CIR), housed in the USC School of Social Work, published a policy brief titled Increasing Understanding of Infants and Young Children in Military Families through Focused Research.  This brief, written by ZERO TO THREE Military Family Projects Director Dorinda Williams and Assistant Director Kathy Mulrooney, highlights the current research on military family issues, particularly around deployment and reintegration, and their impact on young children. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for researchers and policy makers so that they may better understand and support the needs of military families, especially on issues that profoundly impact young children and their development.  To read the full CIR Policy Brief, click here.

Grab & Go Resources: New Inventory of Parent-Child Resources Available

Military OneSource has recently been re-supplied with a range of resources designed for use with parents and very young children who are anticipating or experiencing deployment or who are planning for an upcoming reunification.  Currently available resources developed by Coming Together Around Military Families include the board books Home Again (on reunification), Over There (on deployment), I’m Here for You Now (on deployment), and Honoring our Babies and Toddlers: Supporting Young Children Affected by a Military Parent’s Injury. Jump to our Military OneSource information page by clicking here.