MILITARY LIFE

WHAT'S NEW WITH THE EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEMBER PROGRAM

The Department of Defense Office of Special Needs is committed to helping families with special needs thrive in military life. The Exceptional Family Member Program does this through Identification and Enrollment, Assignment Coordination and Family Support. The more families understand how EFMP works across these three parts, the better their experience can be.

The following enhancements are designed to improve the family experience through greater understanding of the role of each component within EFMP while expanding EFMP Family Support resources.

STANDARDIZING EFMP ACROSS THE SERVICES

There has been a continual focus on creating consistency to benefit the entire community. The following changes to EFMP have been implemented across the services:

Respite care services: Eligible families are allotted a standard number of monthly EFMP respite care provider hours. Also, respite care now covers care for adult dependents. It no longer covers sibling care. Families have the ability to request additional services based on exceptional circumstances.

EFMP Family Support: Provides greater clarity on the

Family Support services and establishes the requirement for EFMP Family Support providers to complete at least one annual personal contact to each family assigned to their caseload and every family using the respective service's respite care program.

Identification and enrollment: There is greater transparency and communication regarding the identification and enrollment process.

Assignment: The service member has up to 14 calendar days from the date of the original assignment notification to request a second review and submit updated medical or educational information.

Disenrollment: The disenrollment process is more transparent. Families are told what constitutes disenrollment and how to disenroll.