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Minnesota "Month of the Military Child"
Governor Dayton has proclaimed April 2011 to be the "Month of the Military Child"
Children of service members deal with many issues unique to their situation. Some move frequently, worry about a loved one in harm’s way or just feel the stress of being separated from a parent for extend periods of time. All of these issues can make normal childhood activities, such as going to school, watching TV and playing with friends more difficult. It is estimated that over 15,000 children in Minnesota have been affected by a parent’s deployment.
During the month of April, the State of Minnesota takes time to recognize the Month of the Military Child in order to emphasize the important role military children play while a parent or important adult is serving. Governor Mark Dayton will send military children a letter of gratitude in honor of their service and sacrifice.
Registration for 2011 is now closed
This special celebration was created by former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger to underscore the important role children play in the Armed Forces community. Governor Pawlenty proclaimed April 2008, 2009 and 2010 to be the "Month of the Military Child".
Minnesota Events and Resources:
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
A comprehensive approach to providing services, training and resources to Service Members and their families throughout the deployment cycle. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon training is open to all branches of the military. Even its name, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is a reminder that the supporting military Service Members cannot end when they return home from deployment and the yellow ribbons are untied; but continues throughout the process of reintegration.
www.BeyondTheYellowRibbon.org
Family Assistance Center
The Family Assistance Center (FAC) was formed to assist families of Service Members with needs which arise while the Service Member is deployed. A FAC is an information source for a variety of services for the Service Member and their family before, during and following a deployment. FACs have an important one-stop assistance and referral role for individual families.
www.btyr.org/family-assistance-centers
Family Readiness Groups
The service member's unit Family Readiness Group (FRG) is a formally recognized and chartered volunteer group of unit family members and loved ones, supported by unit officers and enlisted personnel. The group provides information to and support for families and members of the unit, especially during periods of separation. Knowing that the FRG is there to help when the Service Member is away can be a big relief.
Anyone with a connection to the service member's unit is welcome to be a part of the FRG: Spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, friends, significant others, aunts, uncles, etc. Your level of involvement is strictly up to you depending upon your personal interests, time, and commitment.
www.btyr.org/family-readiness-groups
Military Family Care Initiative
The Military Family Care Initiative is a web based program designed to help military families during deployments. The Initiative unites community organizations with military families to provide simple volunteer services to the families of military personnel during times of separation from their loved-one.
www.militaryfamilies.state.mn.us
MN Dept. of Education - Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)
The Minnesota Department of Education has joined with Governor Pawlenty’s Yellow Ribbon Task Force and other educational organizations to increase awareness of military issues within Minnesota schools. As part of this effort, we are making available informational resources for military children, families and educators.
education.state.mn.us/MDE/About_MDE/YellowRibbon/index.htm
Minnesota Operation Military Kids
From the University of Minnesota Extension office. Operation: Military Kids thanks the 17,000 Minnesota kids that have been affected through recent troop deployment in service to our country. We are proud of YOU! And salute your sacrifice. Helping kids feel connected, active and supported are the goals of Minnesota Operation: Military Kids.
The U.S. Army's collaborative effort with America's communities to support the children and youth impacted by deployment. This initiative was officially launched in April 2005. Since its inception OMK has touched 65,000 military youth and provided information to 7200 community members across the United States. Also see Operation Military Kids for information outside of Minnesota.
www.parenting.umn.edu/militaryKids/
Minnesota Veteran Family Support
Minnesota Veteran Family Support believe the effects of deployment do not end when the soldier returns home. Returning to a sense of normalcy, getting back to daily lives and patterns of home can take months for some families and years for others. Therefore, we believe in support of the family for as long as we are needed. Programs for children:
- Project Backpack - MVFS helps ease the yearly strain of preparing children for school by providing free school supplies to children of deployed, recently returned (within 12 months), disabled, MIA and KIA soldiers. Each child gets a backpack individually packed with the items on the child’s school supply list. In addition to alleviating a financial strain, the backpack also lets the child know that they are recognized for the sacrifice they have made during deployment.
See www.mnveteranfamilysupport.org/programs_project_backpack.html for more information.
- C.H.O.M.P. - CHOMP stands for Child Heroes Of Military Personnel. It is an opportunity for military kids to enjoy a fun, informal atmosphere where they can connect with other kids who understand what they are experiencing. If your child has been through a deployment, is going through a deployment, or will be going through a deployment then this group is for them.
See www.mnveteranfamilysupport.org/programs_chomp.html for more information.
- Youth Medal - The Youth Medal Program is dedicated to acknowledging the children of Minnesota soldiers who have been deployed. Parents or caregivers present a challenge coin to their child after they return from deployment as a physical representation of the sacrifices the child has made while the parent was gone. The child does not wear a uniform, but they serve too! These coins can be requested by the unit command and presented during the award ceremony for the soldiers after they return home. If the unit has already returned home from a tour of duty overseas, the unit command can request these coins and present them during a family event or have a special event, so the child feels honored. See www.mnveteranfamilysupport.org/programs_youth_medal.html for more information.
Deployment Videos
USO and Trevor Romain Foundation
Helping Children Cope with Pre-Deployment, Separation, and Reintegration. The With You All the Way! Deployment Kit, is designed to support families with children ages six years and older that have a family member deployed with the US Military. In addition to the With You All the Way! Dealing with Deployment DVD, created by The Trevor Romain Company in collaboration with the USO, the kit is filled with resources that help and comfort military children and their families. The project is styled after the PBS series. It is an animated DVD designed to help school age children with deployments.
Fact Sheet
More information at www.uso.org/trevor-romain.aspx
PBS
When Families Grieve
Katie Couric and the Sesame Street Muppets Help Families Cope with the Death of a Parent. This prime time television special was shown on PBS in 2010.
The death of a parent is one of the most challenging things a child can face, and shockingly an estimated 2.5% of children under age 18 have experienced the death of a parent (approximately 2.5 million children) and on March 10, 2010 TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) estimated that the 5,398 U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan had left 3,779 children without a parent, while 2,669 spouses had been widowed. In response, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, is launching When Families Grieve, an outreach initiative that provides free resources in support of families with young children, in the military and the general public, coping with the death of a parent. A preview of the materials was presented today at the offices of New York Life Insurance with Katie Couric; Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop; Casey Holstein with his daughters Charli and Lia, who were featured in the special; and Sesame Street’s Muppets Elmo, Rosita and Jesse (Elmo’s cousin). The initiative is presented in conjunction with the Month of the Young Child & the Month of the Military Child.
Information and videos are online at www.sesamestreet.org/grief.
Coming Home - Military families Cope with Change
Join John Mayer, Queen Latifah and your Sesame Street friends for "Coming Home: Military Families Cope with Change." This prime time family television special tells the stories of military families coping with the challenges of combat-related injuries—both visible and invisible. "Coming Home," was previously shown on PBS, explores the different ways these heroic families who are coming together to find a "new normal."
"Coming Home" is part of Sesame Workshop's Talk, Listen, Connect initiative for military families. Join us as we salute the extraordinary courage of children, offer the general public ways to support service members in their communities and provide a powerful glimpse into the lives of these amazing families. We encourage children to watch "Coming Home" with a parent or caregiver, so they can ask an adult any questions they might have.
When Parents Are Deployed
Over half a million children under the age of five are waiting for their active duty, Guard or Reserve, mother or father to come home - the most since World War II. The producers of Sesame Street, along with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, have responded with a television special geared to address the challenges military families face with deployment.
This prime time special, hosted by Cuba Gooding, Jr. captures the extraordinary courage and touching vulnerability of both parents and children. "When Parents are Deployed" builds upon Sesame Workshop's recent educational outreach program produced in partnership with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. titled, Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployment.
archive.sesameworkshop.org/tlc/
Flyer to order the video
Other Resources
Army OneSource
Information from the U.S. Army for active duty, national guard and reserve families.
www.myarmylifetoo.com
Department of Defense
Various information from the Department of Defense (DoD):
Deployment Kids.com
A website designed for children to assist them with deployment issues.
www.deploymentkids.com
The Emotional Cycle of Deployment: A Military Family Perspective
An article written about deployments from military members on the families perspective.
www.hooah4health.com/deployment/familymatters/emotionalcycle.htm
Military Child Education Coalition
The Military Child Education Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, world-wide organization that identifies the challenges that face the highly mobile military child, increases awareness of these challenges in military and educational communities and initiates and implements programs to meet the challenges. MCEC's goal is to level the educational playing field for military children wherever they are located around the world and to serve as a model for all highly mobile children.
www.militarychild.org
Military K-12 Parents formerly called Military Student
Provides military families with the tools and information needed to make informed choices regarding the appropriate educational setting for each child.
militaryk12partners.dodea.edu
Military OneSource
Whether its help with child care, personal finances, emotional support during deployments, relocation information, or resources needed for special circumstances, Military OneSource is there for military personnel and their families... 24/7/365!
www.militaryonesource.com
Month of the Military Child and Child Abuse Prevention
Military Youth on the Move
Moving can be really exciting, but it can also be pretty hard. Do you worry about losing your old friends? Do you dread starting over at a new school? Do you wonder what you'll ever find to do there? If so, then you're not alone! This website was designed with you in mind, covering topics specifically for military youth, like dealing with deployment and moving to a new location, but also everyday youth topics, like dealing with divorce, getting enough exercise, and making money!
http://apps.mhf.dod.mil/pls/psgprod/f?p=MYOM:HOME:379159074197356
National Guard Family Program
Here you can learn about Family Readiness, Program Services and Plans and Operations by clicking on the links to the left. Family Readiness takes a look at the six-step Family Program model that keeps you informed and involved about your benefits as a serving family. Program Services provides an overview of the various programs that the Family Program covers; Family, Youth and Community Outreach initiatives. Plans and Operations will provide you access to national-level calendar events and provides some administrative documents that you might find useful in working within the Family Program.
www.jointservicessupport.org/fp/
Child and Youth Program - www.jointservicessupport.org/FP/Youth.aspx
National Military Family Association
To educate military families concerning their rights, benefits and services available to them and to inform them regarding the issues that affect their lives and to promote and protect the interests of military families by influencing the development and implementation of legislation and policies affecting them. Also, information on Operation Purple, a free summer camps is to bring together youth who are experiencing some stage of a deployment and the stress that goes along with it. Operation Purple camps give kids the coping skills and support networks of peers to better handle life’s ups and downs.
www.nmfa.org
Returning from the War Zone - A guide for military personnel and families
Returning from a war zone can involve adjustment for service members. The families to which they are returning may also need to adjust to having their service member back home. The U.S. Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD has created the guides with the goal of helping to smooth out any problems that may occur following deployment.
www.ptsd.va.gov/public/reintegration/returning_from_the_war_zone_guides.asp
Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists (SOFAR)
SOFAR is a unique and innovative program to aid the families and loved ones of army Reservists and National Guard deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.
Family members at home experience severe stress when coping with a loved one's deployment. While the stresses families face during deployment are well-known, the difficulties they encounter when soldiers return are often just as profound. Without treatment and support, this stress can lead to divorce, substance abuse, unemployment, behavior problems in children, and other related issues that can have a lasting impact on family life.
SOFAR:Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists is a pro bono, mental health project that provides free psychological support, psychotherapy, psycho education and prevention services to extended family of reserve and national guard deployed during the Global War on Terrorism from time of alert through the period of reunion and reintegration.
www.sofarusa.org
Surviving Deployment.com
Information and resources for military families.
www.survivingdeployment.com
VA Kids
A website from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for children and teachers.
www.va.gov/kids/
Zero to Three
The mission is to support the healthy development and well-being of infants, toddlers and their families. Military deployment information is included.
Did you know? 90,000 babies are born to active duty service members each year, and there are over 106,000 children ages birth to 3 who are part of the Guard and Reserve families.
These children and families live throughout the country—they may be living in your neighborhood or your colleagues may be serving them. ZERO TO THREE has just released a video, Young Children on the Homefront, in which military families share their unique deployment experiences and early childhood professionals offer tips and strategies for dealing with difficult issues such as grief and loss from deployment and the challenges that often arise upon reunification.
Watch the Young Children on the Homefront video online at ZERO TO THREE's military resources link to learn more about how to support all military families.
www.zerotothree.org/military/
Other Military Month of the Child websites:
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