military family

8/8/2019 Military Family

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Military Families


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Statistics on Military Families

By the end of 2008 1.7 million have served in the

war in Iraq

4-14% show signs of depression 12-25% show signs of PTSD

11-19% have traumatic brain injury

18-35% have mental health risk or concern

43% of active duty service members have children

Estimated 75% of veterans reported at least 1

family adjustment issue


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Statistics on Military Families (cont.)

THE ARMY, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE HAVE A HIGHER PROPORTION

OF FAMILY MEMBERS THAN ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS, WHILE THEMARINE CORPS HAS AN ALMOST EQUAL PROPORTION OF FAMILY

MEMBERS AND ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS. THE PERCENT OF

FAMILY MEMBERS AND THE PERCENT OF ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERSIS IN RELATION TO THE SUM TOTAL OF ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS

AND FAMILY MEMBERS FOR EACH SERVICE BRANCH.

Active Duty Members* Family Members**

Total DoD and

Families

N % N % N %

Ratio of AD

Members to

Family Members

Army 517,783 40.2% 770,609 59.8% 1,288,392 100.0% 1 to 1.5

Navy 332,269 42.6% 447,605 57.4% 779,874 100.0% 1 to 1.3

Marine Corps 186,425 50.3% 183,906 49.7% 370,331 100.0% 1 to 1.0

Air Force 329,094 41.6% 462,307 58.4% 791,401 100.0% 1 to 1.4

Total DoD 1,365,571 42.3% 1,864,427 57.7% 3,229,998 100.0% 1 to 1.4

** ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS INCLUDE BOTH MARR IED AND SINGLE MEMBER S.

** FAMILY MEMBERS INCLUDE SPOUSES, CHILDREN, ADULT DEPENDENTS, AND OTHER DEPENDENTS

UNDER AGE 2 1 WHO ARE NOT SPOUSES OR CHILDREN.

DMDC Military Family File (September 2007)


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Deployment adds stress to families

Deployment is when an active duty member is sent out of the

country on a mission for their division. Most common

deployments are being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Deployments can last form 6-12 months, sometimes evenlonger. Also many are returning for their 2nd or3rd tours.

This is causing enormous amounts of stress on families

below are some factors that add to the stress.

How many times the parent is deployed

How long the parent is deployed for

Where the parent is deployed to

How much communication is available to the deployed parent


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Children on the Homefront Study

Objective- to study the impact of the current war onchildrens well being and how they are doing across social,emotional, and academic domains

Survey was conducted on 1500 military children ages 11-17

Children had more emotional difficulties than the nationalsamples

Older children and girls of all ages had more school,family, and peer related difficulties

Families that lived on base fared better than ones that livedoff base in local communities

Families benefited from targeted support


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How to help

Make sure the parent is taking care of themselves first

Talk about it, children are very resilient and can handle

much more than we think is possible

Dont dwell on it acknowledge it and move on

Understand and be empathetic, have them discuss what

they are feeling

Know what resources are available in your community and

have them ready to present

Watch closely for mood swings and outburst of behavior

this will be a flag that they are struggling and need some

help


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Parents withPTSD

Students may have to deal with a parent at home with PTSD and thismay be stressful

Try to work with the student and parents to get help for the family, ifall the parenting is on one parent it can cause many problems

Students can also get PTSD and my need to talk with a counselor orpsychologist to help them deal, any traumatic event can trigger thisstress

More soldiers are getting out of the military and not getting the correcthelp they need

Soldiers Project - gives free counseling to service members returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan

Helps to alleviate the stress from the families and provides a way forthem to get back to their lives

Go to www.soldiersproject.org to find more info


9/11

Month of the military child

Celebrated the month of April

Focuses on and honors children with military

parents and their sacrifices Many elementary school focus on art projects with

students

Communities have events all month long for

military children and every year its getting bigger

You can go to www.monthofthemilitarychild.com

and find out what is happening in your area


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Resources

Military OneSource - a website that supports allmilitary families, offers 5 free counseling sessionswww.militaryonesource.com

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society - Helpsfamilies with financial, educational, and otherassistance www.nmcrs.org

National Military Family Association - To fightfor benefits and programs that strengthen andprotect uniformed services families and reflect theNations respect for their servicewww.militaryfamily.org


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Resources

Chandra, A, Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, Lisa H. Jaycox, Terri Tanielian,Rachel M.

Burns, Teague Ruder and Bing Han. (2009) Children on the Homefront: The

Experience of Children From Military Families. Pediatrics published online Dec

7, 2009

Santa Cruz, N (November 28, 2009)

Soldiers

Project

helps vets cope wit

hwarssmental scars. Los Angeles Times, pp. A6.

Military Onesource. 2007 Demographics: Profile of the military community; section

III: Active duty families. Retrieved on Dec 9, 2009 from

http://www.militaryonesource.com/MOS/ServiceProviders/2007DemographicsPr

ofileoftheMilitaryCommuni.aspx

USDepartment of veterans affairs. How Deployment Stress Affects Children and

Families: Research Findings. Retrieved on Dec 3, 2009 fromhttp://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/pro_deployment_stress_children.asp

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