Program helps families with exceptional needs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  There are some Team Dover families who have needs different from those of the average family. For some these needs are medical, and for others it's educational. For these families the Exceptional Family Member Program offers information and resources to ensure when enrolled families move, there are resources to treat them at their new home station.

This is done through both the medical group and school liaison, who work to locate information on programs and resources at the new home station. The program is mandatory for all active-duty family members who have a special need.

Twice a year, the EFMP hosts a conference to help educate Team Dover on the programs available in the local area.

"The conference is designed to inform active-duty families as to what is available in the state of Delaware and the community at large," said Patricia Edwards, 436th Force Support Squadron community readiness consultant. "At our last event, 25 local and base agencies provided a wealth of knowledge to the Dover AFB EFMP population."

As with some programs there are misunderstandings, and in the case of EFMP some people may think it could negatively affect deployments and permanent change of station orders.

"At first, we were worried it might affect my husband's career," said Sally Savoie, 436 FSS school liaison. "But we never had a problem when we were part of EFMP. When my son was three-months-old, our doctor told us we needed to change duty stations from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, in order to get him proper care. My husband was worried about leaving his current tasking so we didn't sign up for the program. I drove my son 750 miles to Salt Lake City for two years in order to get him the proper care.

"When I got pregnant with our second child, we decided it wouldn't be safe for me to drive all that way alone," said Mrs. Savoie. "So my husband put in the package and we got orders for McChord [Air Force Base, Wash.]. When we got there we were treated well and my husband went on deployments and temporary duty assignments all the time. The program never had a negative effect on his career."

Mrs. Savoie said that's why she works hard to ensure people she works with in the EFMP get the necessary care and information.

"We have a support group that meets once a month for people enrolled in EFMP," said Mrs. Savoie. "Sometimes, parents are hesitant to take their special needs child out to event. They worry about behavioral or health related issues. We want to give them a place they can feel comfortable and included."

Mrs. Savoie said it can be hard for these families to relax out of their home. The support group was designed to help combat that.
"A lot of these families have additional stressors and we wanted to provide them a very open and accepting environment," said Sonya Dyer, 436th Medical Operations Squadron family advocacy outreach manager. "We started the group about a year ago as an avenue to bring in representatives from the community to help our EFMP families."

Mrs. Savoie said that they are planning another conference around September.

"We really want to see this program grow," said Mrs. Savoie. "I would like to offer more family-based programs in the future."