Exceptional Family Member Program
Encyclopedia
The Exceptional Family Member Program or EFMP is a mandatory U.S. Department of Defense enrollment program that works with other military
and civilian
agencies
to provide comprehensive and coordinated community
support, housing
, education
al, medical
, and personnel services
worldwide to U.S. military families with special needs
.
Service members on active duty
enroll in the program when they have a family member with a physical
, developmental
, or emotional or mental disorder
requiring specialized services so their needs can be considered in the military personnel assignment process.
Family members must be screened and enrolled, if eligible, when the service member is on assignment instructions to an OCONUS (outside the continental United States
) area for which command
sponsorship/family member travel is authorized, and the service member elects to serve the accompanied tour
. This screening consists of medical record
s review for all family members, and developmental screening for all children 72 months (6 years) of age and younger.
Service members are responsible for keeping their EFMP enrollment current as exceptional family member conditions change, or at least every three years, whichever comes first.
The U.S. Coast Guard does not participate in the EFMP program since it is not a Department of Defense
branch. Instead, USCG members are required to register in the Coast Guard Special Needs Program by contacting work-life staff at the nearest Integrated Support Command.
Each service has its own specific program governed by the following references:
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
agencies
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
to provide comprehensive and coordinated community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
support, housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al, medical
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, and personnel services
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
worldwide to U.S. military families with special needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
.
Service members on active duty
Active duty
Active duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...
enroll in the program when they have a family member with a physical
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
, developmental
Developmental disorder
Developmental disorders occur at some stage in a child's development, often retarding the development. These may include,psychological or physical disorders. The disorder is an impairment in the normal development of motor or cognitive skills that are developed before age 18 in which they are...
, or emotional or mental disorder
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
requiring specialized services so their needs can be considered in the military personnel assignment process.
Family members must be screened and enrolled, if eligible, when the service member is on assignment instructions to an OCONUS (outside the continental United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) area for which command
Chain of Command
Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...
sponsorship/family member travel is authorized, and the service member elects to serve the accompanied tour
Tour of duty
In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....
. This screening consists of medical record
Medical record
The terms medical record, health record, and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdiction....
s review for all family members, and developmental screening for all children 72 months (6 years) of age and younger.
Service members are responsible for keeping their EFMP enrollment current as exceptional family member conditions change, or at least every three years, whichever comes first.
The U.S. Coast Guard does not participate in the EFMP program since it is not a Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
branch. Instead, USCG members are required to register in the Coast Guard Special Needs Program by contacting work-life staff at the nearest Integrated Support Command.
Each service has its own specific program governed by the following references:
- Army - Regulation 608-75
- Navy - OPNAVINST 1754.2
- Marine Corps - MCO P1754.4A
- Air Force - AFI 40.301
- Coast Guard - COMDTINST 1754.7A