Caring for a Family Member with Special Needs?

Balancing a career in the military and family life is almost always difficult. But if your family includes one or more individuals with physical or developmental challenges, the problems may seem overwhelming.

The Department of Defense has established the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) to provide support in managing the care and services for a family member with special needs.
EFMP is an enrollment program that works with other military and civilian agencies to provide housing, educational, medical, and personnel services worldwide to U.S. military families with special needs.

Enrollment in EFMP is mandatory
Service members on active duty must enroll in the program when they have a family member with a physical, developmental, emotional, or mental disorder requiring specialized services so their needs can be considered in the military assignment process.

You can find out more about enrollment and the wide range of resources and services available to you by connecting with your installation's EFMP Family Support Center. There is one at every installation and the entire list is available at https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/.

EFMP Resources, Options and Consultations
EFMP provides special needs consultants to provide guidance and answer your questions. The consultants are professional with master's degrees, extensive experience in helping families with special needs, with knowledge of available military programs.

The consultants conduct a personalized needs assessment to connect you with the most relevant experts in education, the military health care system, TRICARE coverage, and state & federal programs.

Programs for all Special Needs

EFMP is not one program. It is a connecting point for a wide range of programs and resources for many disabilities and stages of life. Among these programs are:

- Information about specialized doctors, medical-equipment resources and medical benefits
Early intervention and special education
- The Education Directory for Children With Special Needs, (https://rly.pt/3txeRH0) which helps military families make informed assignment decisions and easier transitions
- Options for when your child graduates from high school
- The Exceptional Family Member Program (https://rly.pt/3OgF1FP)
- Support for adults with special needs (https://rly.pt/3QlOVaK) including information on insurance, Social Security Disability Insurance (https://rly.pt/3aWLdUM), Supplemental Security Income (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/ssi/), Medicare (https://www.medicare.gov/) and Medicaid (https://www.medicaid.gov/)
- Research on grants, support groups, in-home care and help during deployments
- Recreational referrals to specialized summer camps and other extracurricular activities
- Referrals to legal and financial resources (https://rly.pt/3OgF1FP) for families with special needs, such as guidance on special needs estate planning and creating a special needs trust
- Caregiver wellness referrals for support groups, stress management, non-medical counseling (https://rly.pt/3aTvhme) and health and wellness coaching (https://rly.pt/3OfSo9k) and other resources
- Respite care resources (https://rly.pt/3OfDdwv) through TRICARE (https://www.tricare.mil/) or community programs, and through each service branch

Want more information on EFMP before enrolling? EFMP&ME ha s a video tour of the program, a podcast series, and other resources that can help you navigate the program and get the most benefit from the services and resources.

Visit
https://efmpandme.militaryonesource.mil/ Enroll in EFMP now to provide your family member with personalized support that will improve their quality of life.