Military families face myriad unique challenges, financial, psychological, educational, and many more. Government and civilian groups have always tried to provide solutions, but they were never quite enough to meet all of the complex needs of today’s military families. In early 2011, the White House announced a new program: The Strengthening Our Military Families Initiative, tried to create a comprehensive approach to supporting military families.

What is this ambitious program, and how will it affect you and your family? Let’s take a look. 

 

What Is It?

Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America’s Commitment is the full name of the initiative. It’s a multipronged program designed to first identify challenges and hurdles faced by military families, and then create solutions to those problems. In a press release, the White House announced that the overarching goals of the program would include:

• Helping to ensure that the military recruits and trains the best in the country
• Helping ensure that servicemembers maintain strong families, as well as a strong sense of readiness
• The ability of military families to live “fulfilling lives” while providing support to their servicemember
• To provide a better understanding to the American people of the sacrifice and service of military servicemembers and their families.

 

Meeting those goals will be achieved in four specific ways. The same press release listed these as:

• Enhancing the well-being and psychological health of military families

• Ensuring excellence in the education and development of military children
• Developing career and educational opportunities for military spouses
• Increasing the availability of childcare in the military

 

How Does the Initiative Affect Your Family?

The Strengthening Our Military Families Initiative may affect military families in a variety of ways, although it could take a while before those effects are truly felt. Here’s a rough overview:

• Military families will have greater access to counselling and psychological help. This is important for servicemembers before, during and after deployment, but also vital for military spouses and children dealing with an absent servicemember, or preparing to welcome a previously deployed servicemember home.
• New programs from the Treasury will help provide greater access to funding options for military families, while placing more stringent safeguards against predatory lending practices. Some of these steps have already taken effect, and can be seen in the new payday laws regarding service members.
• HUD and the VA will make it possible for servicemembers and their families to afford homeownership without high interest rates, thereby providing a safer living environment and greater peace of mind for all involved.
• The Department of Education will make supporting military children and spouses a significant priority by offering additional grants and other funding options and programs to enhance educational and training program availability.
• A wide range of government departments will make career and career advancement opportunities more available to service members and their families, in an attempt to make employment to bring these areas into alignment with the civilian world.
• The government will increase the number of on-base childcare centers, as well as the number of supported off-base options. Childcare is a significant problem for almost all military families, with space being exceptionally limited and many families forced to use off-base, expensive private childcare options.

A number of changes can already be seen in the military in accordance with the new initiative. Dozens of bases are seeing construction of new childcare centers, and there’s a significantly greater focus on helping military spouses find gainful employment to help supplement service member earnings. More changes will take place as additional agencies and programs come online, as well.