Useful Links

General/ Family-Oriented Links

Military.com is the largest military and veteran membership organization and provides free information for military members, military families and veterans to benefits of service — government benefits, scholarships, discounts, lifelong friends, mentors, great stories of military life or missions, and much more.

ABA Supports Assistance for Military Families
American Bar Association President Karen J. Mathis called for improved social and family support for dependent children of deployed service members, and for Congress to mandate the provision of civil legal assistance for low-income military personnel and their dependents.

America Supports You
"America Supports You" is a nationwide program launched by the Department of Defense, recognizes citizens' support for our military men and women and communicates that support to members of our Armed Forces at homeand abroad.

www.militaryonesource.com
A free support service provided by the Department of Defense offering assistance and resources to service members and their families on many different issues.

www.nmfa.org
The NMFA provides a comprehensive listing of links to sites containing valuable information to service members and their families. Additional information about the subjects listed on the site is available under "Family Topics" on the site's left navigation bar.

The Vermont Yellow-Book is an initiative supported by the National Center for PTSD and Dartmouth College. This pdf contains a comprehensive listing of agencies for military members, veterans, and their families. There are comprehensive listings of federal and non-profit sector agencies.

www.MilitaryConnection.com
Military Connection specializes in connecting members of the military community with top government and civilian employers. Military Connection's Web site offers one of the most comprehensive directories of military resources and information on the web, featuring thousands of valuable resources, databases and links. All of the numerous resources and services are free to users.

The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)
Their focus is to address transition and other educational issues related to the military-connected child, including active duty, National Guard, and Reserves. MCEC seeks to include all military installations, their supporting schools, concerned organizations, and caring individuals.

Army Reserve Family programs (Online)
Offering education, training, awareness, outreach, information, referral, and follow-up to the Army Reserve community.

Gold Star Siblings: WAR Siblings Helping WAR Siblings

American Academy of Pediatrics: Uniformed Services Deployment
Helping Children and Adolescents Through the Difficulties of Deployment in the Family

Veterans and Families Coming Home
Welcome to Veterans and Families Coming Home. Help for Veterans to get home both mentally and emotionally and to transition home sucessfully from deployment from military to civilian life.

When Wounded Vets Come Home By Barry Yeoman. This AARP article discusses the issue of family caregivng and highlights numerous resources for veterans and their caregiving families.

The Real Warriors Campaign is an initiative launched by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) to promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning service members, veterans and their families.

The Coming Home Project is a non-profit organization devoted to providing
compassionate care, support and stress management tools for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. It is made up of a group of veterans, psychotherapists and interfaith leaders committed to helping transform the wounds of war. They help veterans and family members rebuild the connectivity of mind, heart, body and spirit that combat trauma can unravel; renew their relationships with loved ones; and create new support networks. Single veterans are also most welcome. The Coming Home Project offers a range of free services: workshops and retreats; psychological counseling; training for care providers; and community forums.

MarineParents.com is a nonprofit that offers free services, connections and outreach projects that have expanded to support Marines, to support and educate Marine moms, dads, spouses, families and friends. Information about Marine parent support groups is available at http://www.marineparents.com/USMC/support-groups-search.asp

ParentZone is an interesting and informative “blog” site well worth visiting for any parent of a service member.

Military Family Network's Home for Military Parents and Extended Families
The Military Family Network is a commercial program that supports the unique mission of connecting military families with each other and the best a community has to offer.

Navy for Moms is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

Books, Guides, and Other Internet-based Information for Parents of Service
Members:

The Association of the US Army (AUSA) has a very useful Parent’s Guide written by Vicki Cody, a military wife and mother (Your Soldier, Your Army: A Parent’s Guide).

The U.S. Army National Guard Bureau has a useful guide book for parents of National Guard members titled: Our Sons, Our Daughters – A National Guard Parent’s Guidebook to Deployment by Paula Sumrall.

For a comprehensive listing of Veterans Service Organizations see the Department of Veterans Affairs listing.

National Military Family Association: Sept 2007 – Vol. 18, No 9 has an article with
resource information for the parents of military members. The NMFA website also has numerous links to parent related resources.

USA4militaryfamilies

Mental / Physical Health Issues

Coping with Traumatic Events
Related links about this subject from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

www.mcpap.org/
Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project: MCPAP

http://www.aap.org/
American Academy of Pediatrics: Support for Military Children and Adolescents. Military Pediatricians and Youth- Serving Professionals working to attain optimal physical, mental and social health and well-being for all military dependent infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

American Academy on Communication and Healthcare. Formerly called the American Academy on the Physician and Patient (AAPP) it grew out of a need to address the psychosocial, emotional and psychosocial issues that internists face in their practices. The site consists of educational modules covering all aspects of healthcare communication.

www.traumaweb.org
The Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma

www.ncptsd.va.gov
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

www.nctsn.org
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

www.pcfine.org
Psychoanalytic Couple and Family Institute of New England

www.kspope.com
Resources for working with military personnel

www.centerforthestudyoftraumaticstress.org
The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress conducts research, education, consultation and training on preparing for and responding to the psychological effects and health consequences of traumatic events.

www.pdhealth.mil/hss/smfss.asp
PDHealth.mil was designed to assist clinicians in the delivery of post-deployment healthcare by fostering a trusting partnership between military men and women, veterans, their families, and their healthcare providers to ensure the highest quality care for those who make sacrifices in the world's most hazardous workplace.

www.hooah4health.com/4life/hooah4family/default.htm
Citizen Soldiers juggle many different balls every day...but they cannot afford to drop the one ball that allows them to live a healthier, less stressful life. Hooah 4 Health is a health promotion partnership that allows individuals to assume the responsibility to explore options and take charge of their health and well being.

Army Behavioral Health Website: www.behavioralhealth.army.mil/

The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs and is dedicated to advance the clinical care and social welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and stress-related disorders. It is a primary source of information for clinicians, human
service providers, as well as service members, veterans, and their loved ones.

Additional Resources at NCPTSD

Extensive list of organizations and programs that support military members, veterans, and their loved ones.
Newsletters that can be accessed from the site
A useful overview article on PTSD
PTSD Research Quarterly Newsletter (RQ)

Office of Public Health and Science
Medical Reserve Corps of the PHS

Red Cross Services to Military Members and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Families & Children Site (contains a full menu of helpful resource information and is a gateway to numerous programs and services.

Military Health System Information
America’s Military Health System (MHS) is a unique partnership of medical educators, medical researchers, and healthcare providers and their support personnel worldwide. The site is a source of innovative information on education, medical training, research, technology, and policy information.

The Deployment Health and Family Readiness Library
Within this library you'll find access to fact sheets, guides, and other
products on a wide variety of topics published by the services and organizations that serve you. You'll also find additional web links to other organizations and resources devoted to the health and well-being of the Service member and their family.

Training Resources for Working with Military Families

TDOD Deployment Clinical Health Center Family & Friends has an extensive list of support resources that are available to service members and their families.

The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress conducts research, education, consultation and training on preparing for and responding to the psychological effects and health consequences of traumatic events. Its team is multi-disciplinary and Center activities include the development of military health fact sheets to improve the well-being of deployed soldiers and their families, writing books and articles that advance the science, treatment and management of trauma and consulting.

BattleMind is a useful approach and philosophy – a strengths based approach to deployment mental health rather than pathology focused approached. There are BattleMind materials for spouses as well. The site provides training for leaders, health care providers, individual Soldiers and family members and features a module that addresses the stigma associated with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury leads a collaborative effort toward optimizing psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment for the Department of Defense (DoD). The DCoE establishe quality standards for: clinical care; education and training; prevention; patient, family and community outreach; and program excellence. DCoE Mission is to maximize opportunities for warriors and families to thrive through a collaborative global network promoting resilience, recovery, and reintegration for PH and TBI.

Traumatic Brain Injury Resources:

DoD Post Deployment Health. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. TBI can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, sensation, movement, language, and/or emotions. Some symptoms may appear immediately after the injury and other symptoms may not appear for days or weeks. The rate of combat-related brain injuries in service members returning from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan appears to be higher than in previous conflicts.

The Federal TBI Program: View a web cast and PowerPoint presentation that provides an excellent opportunity to collect information to describe the importance of identifying TBI and to illustrate the long-term cost to society.

Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is
the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live mentally healthier lives. This link provides specific information for military families.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots
organization for people with mental illness and their families. NAMI provides an extensive array of information and resources for veterans and active
duty military members, as well as their families, friends, and advocates.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHS is focused on building resilience and facilitating recovery for people with or at risk for mental or substance use disorders. SAMHSA has a comprehensive resource list for returning vets and families.

Government / Branch-Specific Links

Military OneSource (sponsored by the Department of Defense) is the principal source of assistance for ANY military member or family member (Active Duty, National Guard, or Reserves). This site provides a full array of specific websites for the different Service Components and Branches, as well as a full menu of topic-specific sites. For immediate assistance from OneSource call 1-800-342-9647.

MilitaryHOMEFRONT is the official Department of Defense web site for reliable Quality of Life information designed to help military members and their families, leaders and service providers. This is a great “one stop” site. Note: Especially helpful is the MyState resource on this site. MyState provides an electronic directory with access to organizations that provide services to members of the military community, including directories, locations of programs and services, maps and directions. MySTATE was developed to connect military families with each other and with supportive resources 24/7.

Army Knowledge Online (AKO), www.us.army.mil, is the central repository for Army web sites and access to military personnel information like Career Field Designation (CFD), and Command and Senior Service College preference statements. The site is password protected, and you will need to register to obtain login information.

Army
Army Families Online:
Army Behavioral Health Website: www.behavioralhealth.army.mil/

Navy
Navy “Lifelines” (support for Sailors & Families)
Navy for Moms is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

Air Force
Crossroads (for Air Force Families)

Marines
Military Life (support for Marines, Families, and Veterans):
Marine for Life
MarineParents.com is a nonprofit that offers free services, connections and outreach projects that have expanded to support Marines, to support and educate Marine moms, dads, spouses, families and friends. Information about Marine parent support groups is available at http://www.marineparents.com/USMC/support-groups-search.asp

Coast Guard
Office of CG Work Life (includes family services)
The U.S. Army National Guard Bureau has a useful guide book for parents of National
Guard members titled: Our Sons, Our Daughters – A National Guard Parent’s
Guidebook to Deployment by Paula Sumrall.

The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs and is dedicated to advance the clinical care and social welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and stress-related disorders. It is a primary source of information for clinicians, human
service providers, as well as service members, veterans, and their loved ones.

Additional Resources at NCPTSD

Extensive list of organizations and programs that support military members, veterans, and their loved ones.
Newsletters that can be accessed from the site
A useful overview article on PTSD
PTSD Research Quarterly Newsletter (RQ)

Office of Public Health and Science
Medical Reserve Corps of the PHS

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Families & Children Site (contains a full menu of helpful resource information and is a gateway to numerous programs and services.

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury leads a collaborative effort toward optimizing psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment for the Department of Defense (DoD). The DCoE establishe quality standards for: clinical care; education and training; prevention; patient, family and community outreach; and program excellence. DCoE Mission is to maximize opportunities for warriors and families to thrive through a collaborative global network promoting resilience, recovery, and reintegration for PH and TBI.