Helping Air Force families with special needs

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Elizabeth Schuchs-Gopaul
  • Special counsel to The Judge Advocate General
Washington D.C. --  Many members of the military community have an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Air Force families in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP).

Airmen with EFMP family members are in great need of our help. The Airman and Family Readiness Center and the legal office here are just a couple of the resources people have on base.

EFMP families and the legal issues they face touch every command and every installation. More than 17,000 Air Force families are enrolled in EFMP. Many of those include children with special needs.

Here at Moody AFB alone, there are more than 200 children enrolled in the EFMP program.

In the DoDEA school system overseas, children with disabilities that qualify their families for EFMP assistance comprise as much as 10 percent of the student body.

"I hope that I can empower the families in the program with the knowledge they need to get the help and support appropriate to their unique case," said Windy Scott, EFMP family support coordinator at the A&FRC. "Whether it's a support group, educational help or just pointing them in the right direction to receive legal help, I can be a good source of information."

Special needs legal issues fall into four broad categories: education law, guardianship, advanced estate planning and deployment issues. To provide effective assistance in these areas, legal assistance attorneys will need training to address some of the most common issues facing families. Below is a snapshot of the variety of issues legal assistance attorneys across the Air Force may face:

Education law issues. Does a child with a disability have a right to go to public school? Can a child in a wheelchair be excluded from school trips? Can the school use physical restraints to tie a child to a chair? If a new school district cut special education services to a child in half, can the parents appeal?

Guardianship issues. How do you obtain guardianship over your mentally impaired 18 year old son? What happens to a guardianship when you move to another state? Is there a legal reason to charge an 18 year-old disabled son rent?

Advanced estate planning issues. If a member's SGLI goes to a child, will she be disqualified from living in a group home? Receiving Social Security? Receiving Medicare? Can death benefits or survivor plan benefits go into a supplemental trust? What are the benefits of a "group trust" for people with disabilities?

Unique deployment issues. What kind of power of attorney is needed for someone else to represent a child during his annual school individualized education plan (IEP) meeting? Does a parent have a right to record an IEP meeting so the deployed spouse can hear it? A deploying member moves her family to another state during a 365-day deployment. Will services at the child's current school be provided at the new school?

To best educate legal assistance attorneys in these areas, the local EFMP coordinators and SLOs are invited to attend a webcast May 5. The webcast will address the issues noted above and equip legal assistance attorneys with the ability to help special needs families.

Although not a legal expert, Ms. Scott has received training in some of the areas but plans on attending the webcast to receive additional training to further help the parents who need it.

"There are many activities to help EFMP families connect with the resources they may require," she said. "With April being Autism Awareness Month it's even more important to focus on their needs, including everything from guardianship issues to dealing with a deployment."

If anyone needs assistance they can reach Ms. Scott, who is located at the A&FRC and can be reached at 229-257-4789.

Through effective issue spotting and referral of Air Force members to the right experts, legal
assistance attorneys and EFMP coordinators can make a huge difference in the lives of Air Force families with special needs.

Editor's note: This story was edited to be Moody-specific. The original story was published by the Judge Advocate General's Corps online news service.