Exceptional Family Member Resources

This is a page of resources made by the 2012 Military Spouse of the Year, Jeremy Hilton. Thank you for sharing these Jeremy! Like his Facebook page.

Reports, Articles, and Regulations Related to Military Families Impacted by Disabilities

NCD Report:

1. “How to Improve Access to Health Care, Special Education, and Long-Term Supports and Services for Family Members with Disabilities”
2. Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing: “Oversight: Military Families with Special Needs“
3. Analysis of EFMP by Dr. Drinkwine (final report being compiled)

GAO Reports:

1. 2007: GAO-07-317R “Medical, Family Support, and Educational Services Available for Exceptional Family Members“
2. 2011: GAO-11-231, “EDUCATION OF MILITARY DEPENDENT STUDENTS”
3. 2012: GAO-12-680, “Better Oversight Needed to Improve Services for Children with Special Needs“
4. 2013: GAO-13-165R, “Department of Defense Policies on Accommodating Children with Special Needs in Child Care Programs“

Future DoD Reports:

• Benchmark Study: This study analyzes existing military and civilian programs and policies to inform on best practices, determines expansion of existing programs through a family needs assessment, and develops evaluation metrics to determine family satisfaction. (Delayed)
• Medicaid Study: In collaboration with West Virginia University, this study undertakes a comprehensive assessment of Medicaid accessibility to military families with special needs. (Delayed, expect delivery sometime summer 2013) 
• Functional Analysis: This is a long-term project to analyze the current data and case management systems of each Military Service to determine whether a joint service system can be developed to network the Military Service systems and the military health system IT solutions.

Past DoD Reports:

• 2009 “National Leadership Summit on Military Families“
• 2010 “Report on the Impact of Deployment of Members of the Armed Forces on Their Dependent Children” (see pg 45-46)
• 2010 “Military Family Assessment” (see pg 37) 
• 2011 “Annual Report to Congress on Plans for the Department of Defense for the Support of Military Family Readiness” (pg 40, 2010 report says essentially the same thing, 2012 not published yet):
• 2011, “2011 Office of Special Needs Report to Congress related to 2011 NDAA”
• 2011, “Military Child and Special Education NDAA Study”
• 2011, “Education Services for Military Dependent Children with Autism”

Air Force Reports

• 2009 Caring for People Conference Slides
• 2010 Caring for People Conference Slides
• 2009 DoD IG Complaint & Findings

Relevant Articles in the Press

• 2009: “The Military Child and Special Education”
• 2010: Washington Post “Military helps families find care for special-needs kids”
• 2010: Blog Post after Briefing of Congressional Military Family Caucus
• 2010: Air Force Times Article related to IG Complaint
• 2012: Huffington Post Piece with links embedded
• 2012: Dawn Berge Piece in Spouse Buzz
• 2013: Kaitlyn Samuels Case: Articles One and Two

Applicable Statutes and Regulations

• DoD Office of Special Needs (10 USC Sec. 1781c)
• DoD Regulations
• Army EFMP
• Navy EFMP
• Air Force EFMP
• USMC EFMP: Google search for MCO 1754.4B
• A number of other relevant service regulations

Three websites to be familiar with:

• STOMP
• Wrightslaw
• Military One Source

Miscellaneous Issues/Reports/Articles

• SBP
• “Legal Issues Facing Military Families with Special Needs Children”
• RAND Study: “Effects of Soldiers’ Deployment on Children’s Academic Performance and Behavioral Health” (see pg 45)