Source: AUBURN UNIVERSITY submitted to
MILITARY FAMILIES LEARNING NETWORK
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1021094
Grant No.
2019-48770-30366
Project No.
ALAN-19-090519
Proposal No.
2019-06385
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
MFLN
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2019
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2023
Grant Year
2021
Project Director
Kostelecky, K. L.
Recipient Organization
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
108 M. WHITE SMITH HALL
AUBURN,AL 36849
Performing Department
Human Dvlmpnt & Family Studies
Non Technical Summary
A core tenant of military life is the importance of family readiness as it relates to force readiness. The importance of supporting service members and their families in an all-volunteer force is included in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019. Service members need to focus on their mission and in order to do so, it's critical that they know their families are ready and prepared for life's challenges. Military families face unique stressors including permanent changes of station, lengthy work hours for the service member, deployments and exposure to combat-related activities (MacDermid Wadsworth, 2010). Most military families are resilient in the face of these challenges but community support is critical to developing and maintaining family resilience (Bowen, Martin, & Mancini, 2013).The Family Readiness System (DoD Instruction 1342.22) is an "any door" approach to ensuring the unique needs of service members and their families are supported by a network of providers. Potential providers supporting military families include support personnel on installations as well as community-based providers. The FRS vision allows families to get support across a range of services including financial counseling, family support/counseling, caregiving training and support, and supporting families with special needs. Fundamentally, professionals providing services to military families need to understand their role in the FRS as well as maintain content-based knowledge, training, and credentials. Ensuring adequate training and credentialing across this wide range of services is an expensive and time-consuming effort that is enhanced by leveraging a network of technological and human resources.The Military Families Learning Network (MFLN), currently based at Auburn University, engages military family service providers (MFSPs) in the exchange of experiences and research that enhance their work and encourage professional growth. This work is guided by the theory that a skilled and collaborative network of MFSPs supports significant positive outcomes for military service members and their families. We believe that MFSPs: 1) know what issues are important to their work with military families; 2) have professional experiences worth sharing; and 3) can learn from each other. To encourage a viable network for these professionals, it is necessary to plan, implement and facilitate programming that supports collaborative, online, informal learning and networking environments attractive to adult learners.The MFLN has nine years of experience providing online professional development opportunities for MFSPs. The current MFLN team includes six primary Concentration Areas (CAs), with two additional focused special needs CAs, led by faculty at land-grant and military serving universities; Personal Finance (University of Florida), Family Development (Valdosta State University) including special needs Early Intervention (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Family Transitions (University of Minnesota), Military Caregiving (Texas A&M) including families with Special Needs (West Virginia University), Network Literacy (North Dakota State University), and Nutrition and Wellness (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Working closely with subject matter experts at the Department of Defense (DoD) to identify critical and trending issues, our current MFLN CAs create and deliver timely, innovative professional development opportunities for MFSPs worldwide. The work of the CAs is supported by a Core Leadership team with expertise in family science, human development, program development and evaluation, community capacity building, educational technology, communications, and web-based educational platforms.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80260203030100%
Knowledge Area
802 - Human Development and Family Well-Being;

Subject Of Investigation
6020 - The family and its members;

Field Of Science
3030 - Information and communication;
Goals / Objectives
The mission of the MFLN is to connect MFSPs to timely and cogent research, the Cooperative Extension System (CES), and to each other. Through innovative professional development and programming, we create and support an informed virtual network of professionals and resources in service to military families.The vision for the MFLN is to be an integral part of the Department of Defense Family Readiness System; serving as a primary location and resource for the highest quality and most valuable engagement, education, networking and professional development for MFSPs.The mission and vision for the MFLN informed development of the following goals:Goal 1: Meet specific professional development needs of the MFSPs in the areas of personal finance, family development including early intervention for families with or at risk for special needs, military caregiving including families with lifespan special needs, network literacy, family transitions,and nutrition and wellness with a community capacity building perspective guiding everything;Goal 2: Create engaged online communities; andGoal 3: Encourage continued dialogue between CES professionals throughout the nation and MFSPs.Three guiding principles will drive strategic programming priorities, which inform all phases of our work and create the optimal underlying conditions necessary to achieve our mission and goals.Collaboration: Collaborative programming creates and grows intentional connections among MFSPs and CES educators, which strengthens our network and contributes to the robustness of the Family Readiness System.Andragogy: Adult learner-centered programming recognizes that MFSPs and CES educators are problem-centered, self-directed, interested in learning activities with immediate workplace relevance, and prefer to be involved in the planning of their learning.Adaptability: Issue-driven programming prioritizes the professional development needs of MFSPs and CE educators, responsiveness to the most pressing issues affecting military service members and their families, and innovation in response to dynamic standards and expectations.Collaboration, andragogy, and adaptability will be used as internal programming strategies and will also be evident in the program outputs and inputs. As such, these cornerstones of our work will simultaneously represent internal network processes and external network outcomes.Project goals and guiding principles inform the primary objectives for the coming year.Objective 1: Develop, utilize, and disseminate innovative resources and programming to support the professional development needs of MFSPs and civilian providers (see Table 1). Objective 2: Develop and deliver an issue-driven virtual learning event led by the Core Leadership team and built upon Concentration Area collaboration to demonstrate the power of the Family Readiness System
Project Methods
Program development, implementation, and evaluation activities for the project exist along a reflection and action feedback loop derived from a utilization-focused evaluation paradigm.Network activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact are continually assessed using a formative approach. Continual data collection and analysis helps to ensure mission integrity, supports project and programming innovation, and allows for the responsive and flexible educational environment required for effective adult learning experiences.Project monitoring data is collected and reviewed continuously as project activities are implemented, supporting real-time, data-based decision making for the project. Project monitoring reports (quarterly and annual intervals) highlight the ongoing progress being made against project deliverables at both network-wide and CA-level assessments. All formal reports are distributed to DoD/NIFA.Formal evaluations dispersed through Virginia Tech's Qualtrics account include webinar evaluations (ongoing, approximately 40 per calendar year), a virtual learning event evaluation (once per year), and an annual evaluation to assess program impact (once per year). Evaluation protocols and instruments are reviewed for human subject protection and approved for use by Virginia Tech's Institutional Review Board as well by Defense Manpower Data Collection staff at DoD. Webinar evaluation and virtual learning event surveys and reports provide information on immediate programming outcomes, significant learning experiences, and participant intent to apply knowledge (potential program impact). Additionally, the virtual learning event evaluation assesses participant engagement with issue-based programming and each other during the event as well as during pre- and post-event learning and engagement activities. The annual evaluation survey captures project impact over time by assessing the value participants apply to programming participation, knowledge participants apply over time (including the results of knowledge adoption), and new and innovative workplace habits and norms created as a result of program participation, including those connected to network literacy and interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration. The methodology for the annual report is uniquely adapted for the MFLN context from the work of social learning and communities of practice scholars (Wenger, Trayner, & deLaat, 2011).

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience: The MFLN serves the engagement, education, networking, resource, and professional development needs of military family service professionals from the Department of Defense, branch services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps), Guard and Reserve Components, and Cooperative Extension faculty and staff, as well as Land-grant and other university faculty and staff involved in the DoD/Extension Military Partnership efforts. Efforts directed toward these entities are the responsibility of specific communities (Concentration Areas [CAs]) connected to the MFLN. These CAs are multidisciplinary, multi-institutional teams of faculty, professional and paraprofessional staff, county educators, and partners who work collaboratively to develop educational programs and activities. Content is provided through formats including social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc.), professional development web conferencing, frequently asked questions, learning modules, Ask an Expert services, news releases, and basic information (articles). The MFLN is making content and programs available in places where military family service professionals are congregating and over any Internet-ready device. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In the next reporting period, we will be conducting our third multi-disciplinary Military Family Readiness Academy with themed sessions spread out over multiple months. The Academy is an annual live programming series with special learning and engagement opportunities suitable for individuals, groups, and organizations. The 2022 Military Family Readiness Academy series will focus on the unique readiness needs of military families. Titled "titled "A Social Justice Framework for Military Family Health and Wellbeing". The concentration areas continue to work closely with their subject matter experts to develop programs based on the needs of their respective audiences. Programming will continue to explore new ways to reach audiences including through current and emerging technologies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? There were 56 professional development webinars and one virtual conference offered during the reporting period (https://militaryfamilieslearningnetwork.org/allevents/) with 8,482 participants attending the live events. Nineteen podcast episodes and 200 blog posts were published during the reporting period to support our educational programming. A total of 14,441.5 continuing education credits were awarded across the network during the reporting period. Personal Finance professional development sessions resulted in the certification of 3,562 continuing education credits through the Association for Financial Counseling, Planning, and Education, FinCert, University of Texas School of Social Work, and National Council on Family Relations. There were 769.5 University of Texas School of Social Work, Commission for Case Manager Certification, National Council on Family Relations, and Board-Certified Patient Advocates continuing education credits certified through Military Caregiving professional development sessions. Family Development professional development session resulted in the certification of 1,511.5 continuing education credits through the University of Texas School of Social Work, National Council on Family Relations, and Commission for Case Manager Certification. There were 6,344.5 Early Intervention Training Program and Behavior Analyst Certification Board continuing education credits certified through Family Development Early Intervention professional development sessions. Nutrition and Wellness professional development sessions have resulted in the certification of 1,757.5 Commission on Dietetic Registration for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics continuing education credits. Family Transitions development sessions have resulted in the certification of 338 University of Texas School of Social Work and National Council on Family Relations continuing education credits. There were 68.5 University of Texas School of Social Work, Commission for Case Manager Certification continuing education credits certified through Network Literacy professional development sessions. Participants in the professional development web conferences represented a cross section of the MFLN target audience (61% military family service professionals; 5% Cooperative Extension/university professionals; 7% non-federal entity; and 27% other). Branch services employees indicated their employers, on average, as follows: 11% Army; 3% Marine Corps; 6% Navy; 8% Air Force; 2% Army/Air National Guard; 0.4% Army/USMC/USN/AF Reserve; 2% SOCOM; 8% DoD; 0.3% Coast Guard; 13% VA; 7% Health and Human Services; 0.4% Health and Human Services Grantee. At the end of August 2021, MFLN had 29,959 Facebook fans and 4,925 Twitter followers.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bertsch, B., Golick, D., and Heemstra, J. (2020). Preparing to Cocreate: Using Learning Circles to Ready Extension Professionals for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement. Journal of Extension, 58(3). https://joe.org/joe/2020june/a1.php
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: DiPietro-Wells, R., Krippel, M. D., Ostrosky, M. M., & Santos, R. M. (2020). Debunking myths to promote collaboration with military families. Young Exceptional Children, 23(4), 175-186. doi:10.1177/1096250619856015
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Arrastia-Chisholm, Tackett, S., M., Torres, K.M., Patel, K., Highsmith, Jacob W.H. & Mixon, K. (2021). Deployments to Diplomas: An Examination of Academic Motivation among Military Dependents using Self-Determination Theory. Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs, 37(2), 3-35.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: ONeill, B. & Gillen, M. (2021). 2020 Personal finance year in review. Journal of Financial Planning. https://www.financialplanningassociation.org/article/journal/JAN21-2020-personal-finance-year-review
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Baughman, S., Tidball, K., Hering, A., & Croymans, S. (2020, September 23). Military Family Readiness: Disaster Preparedness. Extension Disaster Education network (EDEN) 2020 Annual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Goble, K., Croymans, S., Mixon, K., Haring, A., Jowers, J., Bertsch, R., & Beckendorf, J. (2020, September 15). Showcase of Excellence (Poster): MFLN Resilience Webinar Series.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Goble, K., Croymans, S., Mixon, K., Haring, A., Jowers, J., Bertsch, R., & Beckendorf, J. (2020, September 15). Ignite Session: MFLN Resilience Webinar Series.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: McKenzie, J., Plein, L.C., Baughman, S., & Crocker, A.B. (2020). Developing Micro-credentials for Professional Development: A Case Study. [Online] National Association of Extension Program and Staff Development Professionals Annual Conference.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: DiPietro-Wells, R., Krippel, M. D., Adams, N. B., Schraml-Block, K., Santos, R.M., & Ostrosky, M. M. (2021, January). Promoting advocacy for families facing unique challenges. Webinar presentation at The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)s 36th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs & Their Families.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Williams, C. S., Hayslip, L., DiPietro-Wells, R., Santos, R. M., & Ostrosky, M. M. (2021, January). Coming and going: Impacts of the deployment cycle on children and families. Poster presentation at The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)s 36th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs & Their Families.


Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The MFLN serves the engagement, education, networking, resource, and professional development needs of military family service professionals from the Department of Defense, branch services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps), Guard and Reserve Components, Cooperative Extension faculty and staff, as well as Land-grant and other university faculty and staff involved in the DoD/Extension Military Partnership efforts, and community and non-government organizations who serve military families. Efforts directed toward these entities are the responsibility of specific communities (Concentration Areas [CAs]) connected to the MFLN. These CAs are multidisciplinary, multi-institutional teams of faculty, professional and paraprofessional staff, county educators, and partners who work collaboratively to develop educational programs and activities. Content is provided through formats including social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc.), professional development web conferencing, frequently asked questions, learning modules, Ask an Expert services, news releases, and basic information (articles). The MFLN is making content and programs available in places where military family service professionals are congregating and over any Internet-ready device. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period we will be conducting our first and second first multi-disciplinary Military Family Readiness Academy. Two years in the making, this will replace the Virtual Conferences in the past with themed sessions spread out over multiple months. The Academy is an annual live programming series with special learning and engagement opportunities suitable for individuals, groups, and organizations. The inaugural 2020 Military Family Readiness Academy series will focus on the unique readiness needs of military families in the context of disasters and hazards. Titled "Fundamentals of Emergency and Disaster Readiness", it will provide a foundational overview of disaster and emergency readiness relevant to military family service providers working in any field. The 2021 edition of the Academy, "Implementing Emergency and Disaster Readiness", will focus on implementing the unique skills and resources military family service providers will need as they manage disasters and emergencies within their professional fields. In addition to the Academy, a significant multi-disciplinary podcast will be launched - Practiciing Connection in a Complex World. It is also 2 years in the making and will be published monthly with new episodes, begining with the first three podcasts titled: 1) Transformation Relationships; 2) Collaboration; and 3) Community Resilience. The concentration areas continue to work closely with their subject matter experts to develop programs based on the needs of their respective audiences. Programming will continue to explore new ways to reach audience including expanded podcasting with podcasts now listed on iTunes, live video events such as Facebook Live and other emerging technologies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? There were 36 professional development webinars and one virtual conference offered during the reporting period (https://militaryfamilieslearningnetwork.org/allevents/) with 6,838 participants attending the live events. Twenty-five podcast episodes and 197 blog posts were published during the reporting period to support our educational programming. A total of 11,988 continuing education credits were awarded across the network during the reporting period. Personal Finance professional development sessions resulted in the certification of 3,049 continuing education credits through the Association for Financial Counseling, Planning, and Education, FinCert, University of Texas School of Social Work, and National Council on Family Relations. There were 817 University of Texas School of Social Work, Commission for Case Manager Certification, National Council on Family Relations, and Board-Certified Patient Advocates continuing education credits certified through Military Caregiving professional development sessions. Family Development professional development session resulted in the certification of 415 continuing education credits through the University of Texas School of Social Work, National Council on Family Relations, and Commission for Case Manager Certification. There were 5,689.5 Early Intervention Training Program and Behavior Analyst Certification Board continuing education credits certified through Family Development Early Intervention professional development sessions. Nutrition and Wellness professional development sessions have resulted in the certification of 1,735 Commission on Dietetic Registration for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics continuing education credits. Family Transitions development sessions have resulted in the certification of 249 University of Texas School of Social Work and National Council on Family Relations continuing education credits. There were 33.5 University of Texas School of Social Work, Commission for Case Manager Certification continuing education credits certified through Network Literacy professional development sessions. Participants in the professional development web conferences represented a cross section of the MFLN target audience (59% military family service professionals; 5% Cooperative Extension/university professionals; 8% non-federal entity; and 28% other). Branch services employees indicated their employers, on average, as follows: 7% Army; 3% Marine Corps; 4% Navy; 6% Air Force; 2% Army/Air National Guard; 0.2% Army/USMC/USN/AF Reserve; 2% SOCOM; 5% DoD; 0.3% Coast Guard; 19% VA; 11% Health and Human Services; 1% Health and Human Services Grantee. At the end of May 2020, MFLN had 26,274 Facebook fans and 4,718 Twitter followers.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Baughman, S. (2019). Promising practices for leading virtual teams. Journal of Extension [On-line], 57(5). Article 5TOT1. Available at: https://joe.org/joe/2019october/tt1.php
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Corr, C. P., Bystrynski, J., Kern, J., Miller, D. L., & DiPietro-Wells, R. (2020). Changing attitudes about trauma-informed care using an online training module.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: DiPietro-Wells, R., Krippel, M. D., Ostrosky, M. M., & Santos, R. M. (2019). Debunking myths to promote collaboration with military families. Young Exceptional Children. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/1096250619856015
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Williams, C., Hayslip, L., DiPietro-Wells, R., Santos, R. M., & Ostrosky, M. M. (in press). Coming and going: The deployment cycle and its impacts on young children and their families. In S. Sandall, T. McLaughlin, & B. Rous (Eds.), DEC Recommended Practices Monograph No. 8 - Transitions. Washington, D.C.: Division for Early Childhood.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Beckendorf, J., Bertsch, R., & Scott, B. (2019). Combining social network analysis with asset mapping: Exploring new ways to engage and imagine a network. Annual Conference, Engagement Scholarship Consortium, Denver, CO
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Croymans, S., Shirer, K., Harris Hering, A. & Hlavaty, K. (2019). Military children & families focus group discussion; National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Conference; Ft. Worth, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Croymans, S. & Routh S. (2020). MFLN 2018 Virtual Conference: Cultural competency, awareness, action & advocacy. Oklahoma State University Extension 'What's Up Wednesday'.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: DiPietro-Wells, R., Krippel, M. D., Ostrosky, M. M., & Santos, R. M. (2019). Building family-professional relationships that matter for military families and their children with disabilities. Presentation at The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)s National Conference, Nashville, TN.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Krippel, M. D., DiPietro-Wells, R., Ostrosky, M. M., & Santos, R.M. (2019). Beyond the book: Building emotional literacy through partnerships with children and families. Poster presentation at The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)s 34th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs & Their Families, Dallas, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Miller, D. L., Corr, C. P., DiPietro-Wells, R., Krippel, M. D., OGrady, C. E., & Chudzik, M. T. (2020). What does it take to change attitudes about trauma-informed care? Poster presentation at The Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention (CRIEI), San Diego, CA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Mixon, K., Bertsch, R. & Croymans, S. (2019). Problem-based learning in webinar trainings: Military Families Learning Network (MFLN) Family resilience series. Conference Presentation, Savannah, Georgia: National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Swartz, R., Tompkins, J., Isaacs, S., Thomas, D., Koenig, B., & Krippel, M. D., Nevin, S. (2020). Sparking family engagement. Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Harris Hering, A. (2020). Beyond the Yellow Ribbon (BTYR) and Military Families Learning Network (MFLN). Ministering to the military forum for faith-based leaders. Sponsored by St. Cloud, MN Stand Down and Recovery Community Network. St. Cloud, MN.