My Life As A Military Spouse

Top five new AFAP initiatives

On Friday, January 15, Army Family Action Plan Conference delegates announced their top five new initiatives, narrowed down from more than 80.

Their recommendations, in order, are:

*Provide a monthly stipend to soldiers who do not qualify for TSGLI and are certified to be in need of assistance from a non-medical caregiver.
*Fund a formal program to provide service dogs for wounded warriors to help patients of all types recover and heal from wounds, injuries and illnesses, both physical and psychological.
*Increase the number of readily available behavioral health providers and services, and increase the use of alternative methods of delivery such as tele-medicine.
*Authorize Family Readiness Groups to fundraise in public places external to the National Guard armories, Reserve Centers and military installations currently restricted under DoD’s Joint Ethics Regulation 5500.7-T. Section 2, 3-210a and AD608-1 (ACS) Appendix J
*Authorize the Reserve Component soldiers to be enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMFP)

AFAP was created from focus groups in 1980, but 2010 marks the 27th year of the official AFAP conference. Representatives (servicemembers, civilians, spouses) first identify, then prioritize issues to raise the standard of living in the Army and provide that as feedback to senior leaders. Those initiatives often serve as a catalyst for legislative, policy and administrative change.

Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey, Jr. and Secretary of the Army John McHugh each spoke at the event.

Casey praised the growth of the Army in helping to achieve/restore necessary balance which is a primary Army goal. “The most important thing we can do to restore balance is to increase the time that a soldier has at home.”

In addition to the key recommendations, the Report Out listed the top 5 Mobilization, Deployment, and Family Readiness Challenges as:

*High Suicide Rate
*Length of Deployments
*Impact of Deployment on Children and Youth
*Duplicate Programs (e.g. ACS and Family Assistance Centers, Support for Wounded Warriors)
*Funding for Family and Deployment Support Programs

Although there are numerous currently active AFAP issues (identified from previous years), the top 6 of those were ranked and their importance reiterated:

*Military Spouse Unemployment Compensation
*Reserve Component Post Mobilization Counseling for one year for soldiers and family
*Convicted Sex Offender Registry needed for OCONUS
*Retroactive Traumatic Service Member Group Life Insurance
*Established Bereavement Permissive TDY
*Medical Entitlements for College Age Family Members to Increase to Age 25

posted by LoveMyTanker @ 8:24 AM