Link for this page: http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil/sp/efmp
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Over 100,000 military families have members with special needs. These include spouses, children, or dependent parents who require special medical or educational services. These family members have a diagnosed physical, intellectual, or emotional condition. The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) works with these families to address their unique needs.
The EFMP is actually two different but related programs that support families with an exceptional family member (EFM): a personnel function and a family support function. The personnel function of the EFMP is standard across the Services and includes identifying family members with special medical and/or educational needs, documenting the services the family members require, considering those needs during the personnel assignment process (especially when approving family members for accompanied travel to overseas locations), and involving the personnel and medical commands and the Department of Defense (DoD) educational system overseas.
Until the passage of National Defense Authorization Act for 2010, the family support function was not a standard across the Services. The Army and the Marine Corps have had dedicated family center staff that assist families with EFMs by assessing the relocation of service members' EFM housing and community support needs prior to departure. The center staff also helps families in developing solutions to individual and community EFM issues and problems, and informing and advising the installation commander of EFM needs. The Navy and the Air Force are currently creating a program with the addition of thirty-five new Air Force staff and thirty-one new Navy staff.
The Special Needs/EFMP Service Provider section on MilitaryHOMEFRONT is designed to serve as a comprehensive source of information for all professionals serving military families with special needs. The Special Needs/EFMP section of MilitaryHOMEFRONT includes current and reliable information on program-related initiatives and news, links to relevant policies and legislation, and Service-specific program links. Additionally, the section provides training resources, promotional materials, and management tools intended to help service providers provide assistance to special needs families across the active duty force, National Guard, and Reserve.
The DoD's new Education Directory for Children with Special Needs provides useful, practical information for families of military dependents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and assignment personnel when considering assignment locations in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
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