Tag: military

Find Partners for Outreach to Veterans’ Families

In helping new veterans’ families navigate civilian services and systems, the Branch highlighted situations where parent centers can make a crucial difference.  New veterans’ families are those whose service member has recently transitioned to civilian life. They may be new residents or have lived for years in your state but are now new to all its resources as civilians and parents of a child with a disability. These families may have always used military-provided supports and services and may not even know parent centers exist.

How will veterans’ families know about your parent center?

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Alex’s Education Journey: Reflections & Tips by a Military Connected Youth with Disabilities

Alex is a young man who considers himself a “military brat”; he grew up in an Air Force family. He’s also one of the Branch’s military-connected consultants who help us with research, writing, and their lived experiences in the military community. Alex is an individual living with a disability which did not significantly affect his education.

Here is Alex’s education journey:

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Scholarships! Financial Resources for Military and Non-military Youth with Disabilities

A college education can be extremely expensive, and debt from student loans can impact students and their families for years. Military parents may have financial challenges paying for college as military salaries and benefits don’t always stretch to cover today’s higher education costs. Earning scholarships is an excellent way to lower future monthly payments; some scholarship awards completely cover annual college expenses!

Below are two resources: scholarships for military-connected youth, and scholarships for youth with disabilities. The lists include awards for two- and four-year undergraduate degrees, graduate studies and vocational programs. All scholarships are national in scope; a few are international. Youth and their families may find scholarships that fit their needs or inspiration for a further search. Parent centers:  feel free to select and share the most relevant scholarships for the families you serve. These lists are great for youth outreach, email campaigns, social media, workshops, support groups, resource fairs and newsletters.

Scholarships-for-Military-Connected-Youth Download
Scholarships-for-Youth-With-DisabilitiesDownload

Disasters and Emergencies-Help Military Families with These Resources

When natural disasters and other emergencies strike, your Parent Center will step up to locate services and supports for affected families. Military families have some additional concerns during emergencies, but they also have significant resources available for just such situations. You can direct military families to these resources both during an emergency, and for future planning, which lets your Parent Center concentrate on other types of assistance. The military resources include planning for an evacuation when individuals have disabilities.

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Going to a Military Installation? Check Your ID

Update as of December 3, 2019:

Can you use your current ID to gain access to a military installation, under the Real ID Law? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been phasing in this law’s requirements, and almost every state is in the process of issuing new, compliant driver’s licenses and IDs. The DHS website states”DHS is working closely with all states and territories to provide assistance and guidance to achieve full compliance by the October 1, 2020 deadline. As of September 5, 2019, 50 states and territories are fully compliant with the REAL ID requirements, and all states are on track to begin issuing compliant licenses and IDs by the October 1, 2020 deadline.” 

Regarding military installations, the DHS website states “The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently finalized an update to its DoD-wide installation security policy and is in the process of no longer accepting noncompliant marked cards across all of its facilities and installations. However, DoD will continue to accept state-issued noncompliant unmarked “legacy” cards until the October 1, 2020 deadline.”

If you think you might still be using a current, non-compliant ID after October 1, 2020, due to your state’s rollout schedule for the new, compliant IDs, you should know that  other types of documents can be used for installation access. Contact the installation you wish to access to find out what IDs are currently accepted-installation command have the discretion to consider other, supplemental forms of identification. You may also accompany someone with a valid military ID card.

DHS’s REAL ID FAQs page  can answer many of your questions about the REAL ID law and how it will impact activities such as installation access and commercial air travel. 

You can find out more about your state’s process to issue REAL ID-compliant licenses and IDs through the main DHS REAL ID webpage.

When a Military Family Leaves the Military: Your Help with Civilian Services Matters

It can be difficult for retiring service members and their spouses to find supports outside the military system.  Like all of us, they get used to the ones they’ve been using.  Can they access the doctors and supports they have had for their child?  Does retirement change their benefits or access to health care?  How can a dependent child continue their services when their military parent retires?  This chart can help you understand which services their child will keep, and what civilian options you can help them explore.

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Military Children, Accommodations and College Entrance Exams

The transition from high school to college can be a daunting experience for any teenager, however, it can be even more challenging when that teenager is part of a military family. Part of the transition process is preparing for and taking the entrance exams to college. If the student is receiving accommodations in school, he/she may qualify to receive special accommodations when taking a college entrance exam. Being aware of the process and requirements to receive accommodations can help ease the anxiety and pressure of taking the test. Continue reading “Military Children, Accommodations and College Entrance Exams”

State Report Cards Will Include Military Students

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires States to report on the academic progress of military-connected students and other important data that will tell military parents, advocates for military children, and Parent Centers who serve military families how well these highly-mobile students are doing in school. Read on for expected outcomes, links to articles on the topic, and the key excerpt from ESSA.

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