Younger children have experienced difficulty adjusting to the return of a parent who may have been away for a large portion of the child’s young life or adjusting to a parent changed due to a combat related injury. To facilitate the young child's adjustment, a program entitled "Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes" has been developed to help military Families with young children between the ages of two and five build a sense of stability and resiliency during times of separation and change. Sesame Street’s Elmo and his friends are featured.

Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes seeks to:

• Reduce the level of anxiety children may experience during homecomings after multiple deployments
• Help parents with ways to cope with multiple deployments
• Help young children gain an age-appropriate understanding of a parent’s injury by including them and the entire Family in the rehabilitation process
• Reassure children that they are loved and secure and that together with their Families, they can learn new ways of being there for one another and having hope for the future

Military Families can request their free kit at www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc.

In addition to the kit, the program is supported by The Sesame Street Experience for Military Families; a free traveling tour to military bases across the country.  Officially kicking off on July 8, The Sesame Street Experience will travel throughout the country making stops at 43 military bases.  The live show is designed to help Families cope with the challenges of deployments, homecomings and when a parent returns changed.  The 60-minute experience will feature a live Muppet performance, giveaways, outreach materials, and a chance for a photo opportunity with the stars of the show, Elmo, Rosita, Grover, Cookie Monster and Zoe.  Talk, Listen, Connect is a bilingual, multimedia outreach program designed to support military Families with children between the ages of two and five.  For more information on Talk, Listen, Connect and the tour, visit http://www.sesamestreet.org/tlc

Soldiers are trained to develop a “Battlemind” to prepare them for the challenges of a deployment to a combat zone.  The mind set and thinking that they adopt to be vigilant and safe during an extended deployment is sometimes an obstacle when transitioning back to civilian life. If you or your Soldier is demonstrating the following behaviors, it is a sign that the transition is not complete:

• Withdrawal
• Inappropriate Aggression
• Hyper vigilance
• Anger/detachment
• Aggressive driving
• Guilt
• Conflict
• Carrying weapons

These behaviors are signs that the Soldier is mentally still in a war zone part of the time.  Many of these behaviors will affect relationships with the Family and job performance. 

The Walter Reed Army Institute has developed training to assist Soldiers transitioning from the Combat Zone to the Home Zone. Visit www.battlemind.org to learn about the resources for Soldiers and Family Members.  If you know a Soldier that is having difficulty with the transition from the Combat Zone, you will be doing them a service if you refer them to the materials and the support services they need to complete their transition.

The Post-Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) Program is a program mandated by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in March 2005 and designed to address deployment related physical and mental health needs of Soldiers three to six months after returning from deployment. 

It is recognized that deployment may have an impact on a Soldier’s health and well-being. In an effort to identify and treat deployment-related health concerns, the Post Deployment Health Reassessment or PDHRA, has been implemented. The program provides education, screening, assessment and an opportunity to access care for a wide variety of questions and concerns Soldiers and their Families may have about a Soldier’s health after returning from deployment. 

For more information on this program, visit Army Reserve Family Programs, or Force Health Protection.

Many services are available for returning Army Reserve Soldiers and their Families.  Here are just a few:

Military OneSource: A comprehensive website with a wide spectrum of resources and a Toll Free Hotline available 24 hours a day.  Call 1-800-342-9647 for help.

Military Family Life Consultants:  Counselors that provide anonymous, confidential support to Soldiers and their Family members.  Soldiers and their Families are entitled to six sessions at no charge.  CALL: 1-888-755-9355.

Family Programs Staff:  Locally based staff specifically available to provide information and referral services to Army Reserve Families.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center program operates a system of 207 community based counseling centers.  The Vet Centers are staffed by small multi-disciplinary teams of dedicated providers, many of which are combat veterans themselves.  Vet Center staff is available toll free during normal business hours at 1-800-905-4675 (Eastern) and 1-866-496-8838 (Pacific).

Vet Centers provide readjustment counseling and outreach services to all veterans who served in any combat zone. Services are also available for their Family members for military related issues. Veterans have earned these benefits through their service and all are provided at no cost to the veteran or Family.

Readjustment counseling includes a wide range of services provided to combat veterans to help make a satisfying transition from military to civilian life. Services include the following:

• Individual and group counseling
• Marital and Family counseling
• Bereavement counseling
• Medical referrals
• Assistance in applying for VA Benefits
• Employment counseling
• Guidance and referral
• Alcohol/drug assessments
• Information and referral to community resources
• Military sexual trauma counseling & referral
• Outreach and community education

The 207 community-based Vet Centers are located in all fifty states, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.  Visit the Vet Center Website for more information or to find a local Center.

Returning to a civilian employer is a key milestone for Soldiers reintegrating from a deployment.  To ensure that he/she is physically and mentally ready to return to a civilian job, a Soldier can access Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) resources and services. Service to the United States is valued by most employers and Soldiers are oftentimes welcomed back by their employers who appreciate the experience and training the employee received while activated.  However, there may be issues or confusion as to the re-employment rights of Soldiers. If there are issues returning to your civilian job, your first call should be to the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is a national and local organization that supports the following functions:

• Operates a proactive program directed at U.S. employers, employees, and communities that ensures understanding and appreciation of the role of the National Guard and Reserve in the context of the DoD Total Force Policy.
• Encourages and assists employee participation in National Guard and Reserve training programs and on military duty without civilian job impediments of any kind, to include encouraging voluntary compliance with federal and state statutes governing employment and reemployment rights of Reserve component members.
• Encourages interaction between National Guard and Reserve units and their communities to promote public understanding of the National Guard and Reserve and encourage partnerships between civilian organizations and military units in the community.
• Assists in preventing, resolving, or reducing employer and/or employee problems and misunderstandings that result from National Guard or Reserve membership, training, or duty requirements through information services and informal mediation.

Soldiers can access ESGR resources through local contacts that can be found on the ESGR Website or by calling 1-800-336-4590.  The ESGR is composed of 4200 staff members and volunteers.

As the nation celebrates another Independence Day, one can reflect on the selfless sacrifice made by citizens serving the ideal of freedom and independence that made the American way of life possible.  Our Soldiers at home and abroad are working hard to ensure that Americans can continue to enjoy these freedoms and as citizens of other nations experience these same rights, the world will become a safer place for all nations.  While the 4th of July may celebrate the birth of our nation, it is also a tribute to today’s Soldiers and their Families who are carrying on this great tradition.

Contact Family Programs:  The Army Reserve Family Programs Web Portal, www.arfp.org, has been designed to help the Family, friends and employers of Army Reserve Soldiers find all the information they need.  The tools discussed in this month's newsletter highlight some of the information available on the web portal.  You can browse through the Portal to find other information, forward this information to other Army Reserve Families or contact your local Family Programs office.

Online Location: //july2008
More CONNECTIONS: //connections