{"id":5188,"date":"2023-06-27T11:15:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T15:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepromiseact.org\/?p=5188"},"modified":"2023-06-27T22:33:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T02:33:06","slug":"2023-update-efmp-standardization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepromiseact.org\/2023-update-efmp-standardization\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Update: EFMP Standardization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Defense released the new Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Instruction, DoDI 1315.19<\/a> on June 23, 2023. This instruction is the EFMP standardization plan we have been waiting for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military EFMP families have expressed dissatisfaction with the EFMP program<\/a> for years, which led to Congress convening a House Armed Services Committee Military Personnel EFMP Hearing on February 5, 2020. Feeling underrepresented and underserved, countless military families came to the Capitol that day to be heard. They shared stories that identified insufficient availability and quality of medical care and special education. Shortly after, Congress mandated EFMP standardization across service branches and called for improvements to EFMP in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)<\/a>. Just shy of two and half years later, with much hard work and negotiations among DoD and service branch leaders, the DoD Instruction (DoDI) has arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michelle Norman provides testimony before a Congressional hearing regarding EFMP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since its release, Partners in PROMISE reviewed this update, comparing it to previous policies and instructions pertaining to EFMP; including the 2017 DoDi instruction<\/a>, the 2021 DoD\u2019s report to Congress on the Implementation of Section 582 of the 2021 NDAA<\/a>, and the 2021 NDAA<\/a>. We also compared these updates to the feedback we have received from the thousands of military families who have shared their experiences via our annual EFMP\/special education surveys<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main takeaway: the update is underwhelming. While we had hoped standardization would minimize Program variability, this instruction still puts many important decisions back in the hands of individual service branches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although this is a huge leap forward for EFMP, this update still fails to address the intersections of EFMP and special education. EFMP families want clear, consistent special education support and resources across DoD and service branches. This instruction falls short of delivering standardized processes between the EFMP offices and School Liaison Program. Additionally, Sec. 589G of the 2021 NDAA mandates reporting and collection of special education disputes and their outcomes. This requirement was not included in this revision. Considering half of the 2020 EFMP Congressional Hearing focused on special education challenges, as did past NDAAs and Presidential Budget Requests, we expected more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, this is a big step in the right direction. Our military community knows the importance of military family quality of life when it comes to military recruitment, readiness and retention. As mentioned by DoD senior leaders<\/a>, more enhancements are needed. We are hopeful that the Office of Special Needs<\/a> will continue to provide data-informed guidance to update this instruction in the months and years to come. This further guidance will establish a missing partnership between the people being served, those making policy and those implementing the policy. We all want to see improvements that will make a real difference for EFMP families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Positive EFMP Standardization Improvements:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n