Source: TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION submitted to NRP
MILITARY FAMILIES EDUCATION PROGRAM AT FT. BLISS, TX
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0215599
Grant No.
2008-48307-04849
Cumulative Award Amt.
$611,602.00
Proposal No.
2008-04693
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2008
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2009
Grant Year
2008
Program Code
[MI.1]- F4HN-Admin. Discretionary & Reim.-Extension
Recipient Organization
TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
(N/A)
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843
Performing Department
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Non Technical Summary
Fort Bliss is one of the fastest growing Army installations due to the base closure and realignments that are currently underway with the military. Through the Interservioe Support Agreement with Extension and Ft. Bliss Army Community Service the following will be provided for military families for the year. Extension Agents will provide educational programming to families in the following areas: Child and Spouse Abuse Prevention, Exceptional Family Member Program, Mobilization and Deployment focusing on Family Readiness Groups, Family Member Empployment, Relocation readiness, Financial Readiness and the Volunteer program at Ft. Bliss. Programs provide but not limited to in the area of Family Advocacy are: Army regulated awareness classes on the recognition of child and spouse abuse, reintegration training for returning soldiers and their families, pre-deployment trainings as needed, parenting skilss, couples communication, stress management, passenger safety, educational playgroups, and hospital visits to new parents to provide educational materials. Programming in the area of Family Member Employment consist of resume development, job search skills, interviewing techniques and other topics to provide military family members with the best possible advantages in seeking employment in the Ft. Bliss/El Paso area. Financil education for soldiers and family memebers is a core program at Army Community Service. Classses are taught weekly on topics such as planning and budgeting, debt management, saving and investing and specialized toopics such as ID theft and home buying. Consumer programs are also provided in community campaigns throughout the year. Mobilization and Deployment are major issues in the military and as such an Extension Agent at Ft. Bliss provides educational programming and oversight of Family Readiness Groups. They provide programming on rules and regulations of an FRG for leaders and members. Family Readiness Groups are vital to the support of soldiers and families. Relocation Readiness is an important core service of Army Community Servcie nad Extension provides assistance to this program through information and referral and assistance with front line support to the agency and families of Ft. Bliss. The Exceptional Family member program assists families with special needs to access services and programs that will best meet their special needs. The Extension Agent has developed progrsms for specific aliments, following procedures for military families with special needs and has been able to save military family fees with registering for services. Volunteering is the core of all Army Community Service programs. That is the reason that the agency was founded. Originally it was all run by volunteers. The Extension Agent that provides programming for the recruitment, training, placing and recognition of volunteers throughout the Post provides continuing training, assistance to agencies on the installation that has volunteers and is in charge of the implementation and execution of the Volunteer of the Year Ceremony for the Ft. Bliss community.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80260203020100%
Goals / Objectives
Fort Bliss is one of the fastest growing Army installations due to the base closure and realignments that are currently underway with the military. Through the Interservioe Support Agreement with Extension and Ft. Bliss Army Community Service the following will be provided for military families for the year. Extension Agents will provide educational programming to families in the following areas: Child and Spouse Abuse Prevention, Exceptional Family Member Program, Mobilization and Deployment focusing on Family Readiness Groups, Family Member Empployment, Relocation readiness, Financial Readiness and the Volunteer program at Ft. Bliss. Programs provide but not limited to in the area of Family Advocacy are: Army regulated awareness classes on the recognition of child and spouse abuse, reintegration training for returning soldiers and their families, pre-deployment trainings as needed, parenting skilss, couples communication, stress management, passenger safety, educational playgroups, and hospital visits to new parents to provide educational materials. Programming in the area of Family Member Employment consist of resume development, job search skills, interviewing techniques and other topics to provide military family members with the best possible advantages in seeking employment in the Ft. Bliss/El Paso area. Financil education for soldiers and family memebers is a core program at Army Community Service. Classses are taught weekly on topics such as planning and budgeting, debt management, saving and investing and specialized toopics such as ID theft and home buying. Consumer programs are also provided in community campaigns throughout the year. Mobilization and Deployment are major issues in the military and as such an Extension Agent at Ft. Bliss provides educational programming and oversight of Family Readiness Groups. They provide programming on rules and regulations of an FRG for leaders and members. Family Readiness Groups are vital to the support of soldiers and families. Relocation Readiness is an important core service of Army Community Servcie nad Extension provides assistance to this program through information and referral and assistance with front line support to the agency and families of Ft. Bliss. The Exceptional Family member program assists families with special needs to access services and programs that will best meet their special needs. The Extension Agent has developed progrsms for specific aliments, following procedures for military families with special needs and has been able to save military family fees with registering for services. Volunteering is the core of all Army Community Service programs. That is the reason that the agency was founded. Originally it was all run by volunteers. The Extension Agent that provides programming for the recruitment, training, placing and recognition of volunteers throughout the Post provides continuing training, assistance to agencies on the installation that has volunteers and is in charge of the implementation and execution of the Volunteer of the Year Ceremony for the Ft. Bliss community.
Project Methods
Lectures, series, classes, briefings, workshops, tours, playgroups, displays, educational handouts, seminars, community campaigns Classes are evaluated on knowledge increase and skills learned and implemented.

Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Fort Bliss has become one of the fastest growing military installations due to base closure and realignments that are currently underway with the military. They type of installation that was Ft. Bliss is also changing with more troops that will be deploying instead of coming for schooling. With these changes have come many challenges for the staff to meet the new program needs and services for soldiers and families. The staff at Ft. Bliss grew form 6 to 22 positions within this year. Extension employees provide educational programming in the following areas. Domestic violence prevention, parenting, stress management, couples relationships, communication, life skills. Classes and activities are also held in the areas of financial education, employment readiness, volunteer leadership, exceptional family members program, and Army Family Team Building. Information and referral for soldiers and families to services available for military families is also a major function that is provided through the program at Army Community Service. PARTICIPANTS: This is a partnership between Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Ft. Bliss Army Community Service. All programs are worked as a partnership providing the programs and services to soldiers and families of the Ft. Bliss community. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience is all the soldiers, family members and civilians of the Ft. Bliss community. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Educational programming and activities were held throughout the year at Ft. Bliss. Army mandated classes were taught to soldiers to meet the expectations of the military. The military requires classes for all soldiers on domestic violence prevention. The Family Advocacy Program provides these classes and also has community awareness events in October for Domestic Violence Prevention Month and in April for Child Abuse Prevention Month. The focus of all activities are on prevention. Parenting classes are taught to better help parents face the challenges of raising children as well as the special challenges children face in being part of a military family. Exceptional Family member program provided educational programs to families on how to cope with a special needs family member, provide support and information and referral to both military and civilian resources for the families in the area. The Army Family Team Building classes are taught at all levels of the military to help family members succeed in the military as a family member. The program teaches the basic resources to advanced leadership skills. Other programs that are taught are financial education which spans from basic skills to saving and investing. The Volunteer program provided educational programming as well as a major recognition ceremony for all Ft. Bliss volunteers. The Employment Readiness program help family members prepare for the employment process by teaching classes on resume development, dress appropriately for interviews and interviewing techniques. They also stay current on positions in the community and help with job leads for participants.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period