Region 5 Director’s Webinar The Branch is the Military Parent Technical Assistance Center for our Nation. Our mission is to build the capacity of Parent Centers to provide effective services to military parents of children with disabilities and youth with disabilities in military families. Our federal funding began in FY 2015, and we launched our website in March of the same year. We have three full-time dedicated staff, all housed at PAVE in Washington State, assigned to specific PTAC Regions. Empowered Parent Centers and Military Families through partnerships

Objectives Learn which military programs help families Learn how to locate military-connected professionals Explore new Interactive Map tool at branchta.org Our objectives are to ensure you walk away with: Which military programs assist military families who have children with disabilities, how several Parent Centers have contacted and nurtured relationships with the military-connected professionals in those programs, and information on special tools and services we offer to assist you in your work with military-connected professionals and military families.

Where do I start? The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) School Liaison Program (SLO) Family Assistance Centers Special Needs Program (Coast Guard) These are the military organizations and professionals whom you may encounter when you contact a military installation. Your Interactive Map will provide contact information for one or more of these programs in each installation in your state. For more information on the EFMP, visit our website at https://branchta.org/exceptional-family-member-program-efmp/.

Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Provides support to military families with special medical and educational needs Enrollment and Identification Assignment coordination Family Support The Exceptional Family Member Program provides support to military families with special medical and educational needs. Once a diagnosis is reached or special educational needs are identified, enrollment is mandatory. EFMP is important because: It is a tool which allows the service member’s employer (i.e. the military) to actually consider the needs of the family when the service member is issued orders to a new command. EFMP ensures that the family member with special needs will have their educational and medical needs met at the next installation through forms that have to be completed, interviews for family member screening, and collaborative efforts amongst installations and civilian entities. EFMP Coordinators help the family have a smooth transition to a new duty station by locating services, providers, and respite care for qualifying families. They refer families to local resources: meaning to the Parent Centers, if they know who you are and trust that the family will be assisted through your great work.

Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Some EFMPs are located at the service member’s duty station or military installation Others are geographically remote from the service member (Reserve, Recruiters) Some EFMPs are located where the service members is assigned, mainly large installations, such as Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado or Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In contrast, other EFMPs may be at a Reserve or Recruiting Installation on the other side of a State or in another State altogether. For example, Salt Lake City Recruiting Battalion’s Soldier and Family Support assists families in Northern Idaho, south through Las Vegas, and East to Big Horn, Wyoming.

School Liaison Program Each Active Duty installation has a School Liaison Program Acts as the primary point of contact for matters involving elementary and secondary schools Provides a conduit between parents, military installations, and local school systems School Liaison Officers are located at each major military installation but may wear many hats or may be called something other than School Liaison Officer. They may be classified as Family Resource Specialists or Points of Contact. They are the primary point of contact for matters involving schools that military children attend, as well as being the conduit between the parents, command, and the local school systems.

Family Assistance Centers (National Guard Family Program) Help families access military benefits, refer families to local resources. Established to serve National Guard; can serve families from any branch of service. State-level Coordinators supervise and refer to multiple local Family Assistance Specialists Special Needs Program (Coast Guard- Office of Work-Life) Serves the same purpose as EFMP. Regional: each Family Assistance Specialist serves Coast Guard stations in multiple States. May also have remotely- located staff on “detached duty”. The National Guard are the state-organized units of the U.S. Army and Air Force, composed of citizens who undergo training and are available for state or federal military service. When called to federal service, National Guard members are considered “activated”, and they and their families are eligible for active-duty benefits. The Family Assistance Center professionals help National Guard members and their families navigate military benefits systems and access local services. Family Assistance Centers will also help families in any branch of service. The Coast Guard has its own program, the Special Needs Program. There are far fewer Special Needs Program staff due to the location of Coast Guard commands, so the Special Needs Program is regionally-based. There’s a common misconception about having to be near large bodies of water to see Coast Guard families. Just because you do not live near the ocean or a large river like the Mississippi doesn’t mean you do not have Coast Guard in your States. In fact, there are Coast Guard units in Lake Havasu, Arizona; Topeka, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Westminster, Colorado, among others.

Establishing Partnerships Last year a few of Region 5’s Parent Center staff spoke with us about how they built relationships with military connected professionals. Roz Welch of Utah Parent Center, Shirley Swope from Peak Parent Center, Joan Karpenko and Cathy Haarstad of Pathfinder North Dakota shared their stories of how they initially contacted, and then grew relationships with School Liaison Officers and EFMP staff in their states. They had the advantage of knowing about the installations in their areas and the military connected professionals who help families. branchta.org/working-with-military-installations-toolkit

Maintaining Partnerships: Pathfinder, ND Results: Specific engagement strategies identified Future collaboration planned Pathfinder staff informed of resources at branchta.org to increase their knowledge about military families. Why it worked: Pathfinder staff knew which military professional to invite to the discussion Wanted to be informed about military family needs Had a previous relationship with the installation they wanted to build Maintaining relationships with military connected professionals can mean staying on top of staff and program changes. We were requested to provide Technical Assistance to Pathfinder Parent Center in North Dakota. They wanted to get some ideas and tips on how to work further and build their relationship with Minot and Grand Forks Air Force Bases. We were also able to include one of the installation’s Exceptional Family Member Program Directors on the call. We discussed engagement strategies to get military parents in the seats at trainings, how to engage the families in conversation, and ensure that Pathfinder staff were invited to be a part of resource fairs and trainings that were command sponsored. Pathfinder staff already knew the military connected professional. The Branch was able to assist in creating ways to build their collaborative efforts.

Find a military-connected professional Locate the professional using the Maps tab at branchta.org Select your Region, then click on the upper right corner of the map to expand. If you want to find the military connected professionals in your States (or regions within your State) locate your Region’s toolkit on our website. It just takes a few easy steps. First, go to the Maps tab on our website at branchta.org . Use the drop-down menu to select Region 5. To enlarge the map and open the sidebar with text-based listings, click on the icon at the upper right of the map. The icon looks like a square formed of four arrows facing inward.

Use the map pushpins or sidebar on the expanded map Military locations are listed by State, and color-coded by branch of service You can click on a map pushpin, or use the sidebar on the expanded map. Once you locate your State just click on one of the markers shown in the map. This action will expand the contact information on the left side of the map. Pushpins are color-coded by branch of military service: Army is green, Air Force is dark blue, Navy is dark grey, Coast Guard is light blue, and Marine Corps is red. National Guard locations are identified as Army National Guard (green), and Air National Guard (dark blue). To use the sidebar, scroll down to locate your state, which is listed alphabetically. Click on an installation or location name to pull up contact information for the location and for the military program providing services to that location.

Example of location and contact information: Here is one example! The Blue marker was clicked on in Northwestern Montana. The informational screen shows the Air National Guard 120th Airlift Wing is located at that location. The addresses and phone numbers are shown. In each case, the map will show the appropriate program or office, not the name of the individual, because military-connected professionals tend to be highly mobile.

In Conclusion: All branches of military service have programs and military- connected professionals who can help when family members have a disability. As you reach out to those professionals, you can use tips from other Parent Centers, and ask the Branch to initiate meetings. You can find military locations and contact information on the Regional Military Maps at: branchta.org In conclusion, we have shown you the main programs you may want to contact and get to know, what tips other Parent Center staff have used and how to initiate meetings, as well as how you can locate those military connected professionals on our website.

What Do You Think? And now, we have a one-question poll…..

We are always happy to answer your questions and take suggestions! Visit www.branchta.org to learn more and sign-up to receive our quarterly e-newsletter. Reach us by phone at (253) 565-2266 and request by name, or email: Vicki Farnsworth (Regions 1 & 2)- vfarnsworth@wapave.org Andrea Bridges (Regions 3 & 5)- abridges@wapave.org Barb Koumjian (Regions 4 & 6)- bkoumjian@wapave.org We are happy to answer questions or take your suggestions at any time. Please feel free to contact us and please visit our website. You may wish to sign-up for our quarterly e-newsletter as well! Thank you and have a great week!