The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP): Policy Alignment Between the Department of Defense and the Services
Abstract
The Department of Defenses (DoDs) Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) is designed to provide resources and support to military families who have a dependent memberan adult or a child with special needs. These special needs range from learning disabilitiesto mental, emotional, or physical health conditions that require nonstandard care. The Office of Special Needs (OSN) is designated as the leading oversight body for the EFMP; however, each military department is tasked with implementing the program. As a result, the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps,1 and Navy each have their own EFMPs. Both DoD and the departments have official policy documents that guide the EFMP, with the departments modeling their policy after the official Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI). Assigning responsibility for executing DoD EFMP directives to the military departments allows for flexibility to tailor EFMP policy to organizations that differ greatly, but it also creates the opportunity for uneven program implementation across the service branches. Any discrepancies across these policy documents and the domains covered therein may lead to differences in how the program is actually implemented and thus experienced by service members and their families. A 2018 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that EFMP implementation varied widely by service and that the inconsistencies of EFMP execution created inconsistencies in the types of services provided to family members with special needs, which oftentimes adversely impacted the quality of EFMP service.2 Though the GAO report offered some indication of the policy sources for these inconsistencies, the current report provides a much more detailed examination of the relevant policy documents to identify additional areas that may serve as the source of inconsistencies in implementation of the EFMP as well as differing experiences by EFMP families.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1130850
Entities
People
- Diana Y. Myers
- Laura L. Miller
- Sarah O. Meadows
- Thomas E Trail
Organizations
- RAND Corporation