Families with special needs family members likely face difficult choices and compromises. Consider how challenging it would be to weigh difficult issues if some of those choices were actually orders. Enrolling in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) is mandatory across all military services for service members with a special needs family member. Because EFMP mandates special needs family members only be assigned to duty stations where there are services to maintain or support the medical, mental health, and educational needs of the family, EFMP enrollment can be seen as career limiting. As a military social worker, understanding the EFMP process—and its perceived compromises—will help you convey accurate information and guidance so your client can be successful in the military and take care of a special needs family member. In this Discussion, you consider the effect of EFMP on career and family.

Post (2 to 3 pages)

• Explain how the following statement may or may not be true: Having a family enrolled in EFMP could be viewed as a career limiting program.
• Explain how you would collaborate with other professionals in the EFMP program to best support the military family.

Required Readings

Hunter, C. L., & Goodie, J. L. (2012). Behavioral health in the Department of Defense Patient-Centered Medical Home: history, finance, policy, work force development, and evaluation. Translational behavioral medicine, 2(3), 355-363.

Navy Personnel Command. (2016). Navy exceptional family member program. Retrieved from http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/efm/Pages/default.aspx

Rubin, A., Weiss, E. L., & Coll, J. E. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of military social work. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Chapter 21, “The Exceptional Family Member Program: Helping Special Needs Children in Military Families” (pp. 359–382)

U.S. Department of the Air Force. (2014b). Medical support to family member relocation and Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) (Air Force instruction 40-701). Retrieved from http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_sg/publication/afi40-701/afi40-701.pdf