Statewide Efforts to Support Military Children Underway

In Michigan there are approximately 14,000 adults serving our country as active duty or on reserve from various branches of the military. However, aside from the few Air National Guard units, National Armories and Coast Guard Stations, Michigan does not have an active military base present.

With Military families scattered throughout the state from urban to rural regions, there is a problem identifying those families, and children, in particular, linking them or accessing basic health and human services.

On November 9-10, 2010, before our National Observance of Veterans Day, 120 leaders representing Community, Education, Health, Nonprofit and Business convened for the first ever public engagement sponsored by the Military Child Education Coalition - a national nonprofit advocacy group that focuses on ensuring quality educational opportunities for all military-connected children affected by mobility, family separation, and transition. The MCEC performs research, develops resources, conducts professional institutes and conferences, and publishes resources for all constituencies.

In Michigan, myself, along with stakeholders were brought together to help formulate a state agenda and a progressive campaign to bring the awareness on the shortfalls, not necessarily of service delivery, but identification of the children from Military parents, guardians and or sibilings and the challenge of connecting those children to services.

Some providers and community critics responses have been positive, yet, unmoved by the fact that the targeted sector's need are not any different from children who are not associated with the Military.

On a clinical and psychological plane, the children tend to have more trauma-related issues pertaining to the separation of their loved ones and particularly the trauma of dealing with loved ones who have been critically disabled, like a loss of limbs, or behavioral changes.

The MCEC has rolled out the national campaign, "Living the New Normal," which became the thrust of discussion and planning from the 120 partners during the one-day public engagement at Michigan State University.