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Congress orders DoD to step up family readiness support

The services’ senior enlisted advisers — or spouses of senior enlisted personnel — will be among the members of a new family readiness council that will help the Defense Department develop a specific policy for military family readiness, and ensure that support is sustained.

Under a detailed set of provisions in the 2008 Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Bush Jan. 28, the Defense Department must develop a specific policy and plans for the support of military family readiness — and must get input from the services and family members to do it.

Lawmakers want to see the new policy for family readiness by Feb. 1, 2009.

The goal is to prod the Defense Department to provide stronger oversight on family programs, according to a congressional staff member. Lawmakers are concerned that many family support programs appear to be run independently and ad hoc, although senior defense officials continually stress the importance of support for military families.

The new family readiness council will foster “a coordinated approach across all services” and “improved oversight by the Office of the Secretary of Defense” in developing and sustaining programs that support family readiness, according to the staff member.

“We are so in favor of this provision,” said Kathleen Moakler, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association. “We continue to say there are wonderful programs, and it’s time to look at best practices and see what works.”

Moakler said that at one point, the family policy office did establish a joint family assistance council several years ago, which included service representatives, family advocates, and organizations like the Red Cross. The council stopped work when the previous director of the family policy office, Meg Falk, departed several years ago.

“We have great hopes for the new family readiness council,” Moakler said.

The council will monitor requirements for family readiness and evaluate the effectiveness of family readiness programs. By Feb. 1 of each year, the council will provide an assessment of family readiness programs during the past year, and recommend improvements, including funding and other resources.

Family advocates and service officials, as well as the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, will sit on the council, in addition to the senior enlisted advisers of the services, or a spouse of a senior enlisted member from each service.

The council will meet at least twice a year, and lawmakers indicated they expect most of the meetings to take place outside the Washington, D.C., area.

The new law puts the onus on the Defense Department to ensure family readiness programs are “comprehensive, effective and properly supported,” and that this support is continuously available to all military families — National Guard and reserve, as well as active-duty — in peacetime and in war, and during periods of force structure change and relocation of military units.

Defense officials must submit plans for family readiness to Congress by March 1 of each year. And the law states that officials must make family readiness “an explicit element of applicable Department of Defense plans, programs and budgeting activities” and ensure that achievement of family readiness is expressed through goals that are identifiable, measurable and apply across the department.

Part of the policy will include a summary, by fiscal year, of the funding for military family readiness programs in each service and through the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., has raised concerns that defense officials are trying to cut funding for family programs in the 2009 defense budget proposal. The proposal was 39 percent less than the amount Congress added last year, said Murtha, chairman of the powerful House defense appropriations subcommittee, in a Feb. 13 hearing.

The new congressional direction “is a wonderful message … about the importance of supporting our families,” said Meredith Leyva, founder of CincHouse.com and Operation Homefront.

“We’re in the seventh year of war, and the stress is absolutely palpable,” she said. “We can’t expect to maintain the mental health and retain quality service members if we don’t recognize their personal commitments — namely, their families.”