PENN STATE CLEARINGHOUSE FOR MILITARY FAMILY READINESS

Military families face unprecedented challenges. OIF and OEF have resulted in long deployments, and repeated deployments and re-deployments have become commonplace. On the warfront, military engagements are occurring in close quarters against hard-to-identify opponents, and the threat of terrorist attacks is ever-present. Instantaneous news reports out of Iraq and Afghanistan bring the warfront to the home front on a daily basis. Military families that include an exceptional family member likely face additional challenges to readiness. While challenges and responsibilities faced by military families are manifold, the science and practice of developing military family readiness is in its infancy. The overarching purpose of this work is to enhance the science base related to the understanding of family readiness, including risk and resilience factors. This project will also enhance the science base of prevention and intervention programs used to enhance military readiness. The scientific literatures from many disciplines will be reviewed to develop a robust understanding of military family readiness, in all its complexity. These literatures will also be reviewed to identify promising evidence based programs and practices that may be portable to the military family context. All of this information will populate The Clearinghouse on Military Family Readiness (CMFR). The science based information will be disseminated to professionals working with military children, youth, and families to enhance their ability to understand, measure, enhance, and strengthen military family readiness. The CMFR will provide information on and access to evidence-based programs designed to enhance family functioning across a broad range of outcomes. High quality, proactive, profession technical assistance will also be provided to promote the understanding, adoption, and ultimately wide-spread use of science-based practices to enhance family readiness. Through the use of these mechanisms of action, the CMFR will help build the professional capacity of those working with military children, youth, and families so they are better positioned to effectively bolster military family functioning and resilience. The second goal of this proposal is to establish an Exceptional Family Member Support Program Library (EFMSPL) to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of professionals working with that particular target audience. The "virtual" EFMPL will catalog and house the latest research findings related to exceptional family members and best practices for addressing challenges to the readiness of these families. The EFMSPL will provide opportunities for interactive learning and proactive technical assistance. By also hosting the EFMSPL, the CMFR will create a cohesive, one-stop-shop, supportive virtual community of helping professionals, researchers, military and community leaders, and military families. It is expected that CMFR and EFMSPL will strengthen the capacity of professionals to build family readiness. More effective, science-based prevention and intervention programs will be used and evaluated by those working with military children, youth, and families.