DoD’s school liaison officers are another resource to advise the K-12 crowd, but again the intersection leaves much to be desired. Rather than copy the Defense Department’s program, the Coast Guard has appointed a family resource specialist at all Work-Life regional offices. Traditionally, family resource specialists have largely concentrated on issues related to the Special Needs Program (assisting families with specialized medical conditions that require case management), but that focus is now widening. The Coast Guard faces significant challenges, however, as some districts cover huge territories (e.g., one district alone stretches from Wyoming to North Dakota and then south to Louisiana). In some Work-Life offices, one individual may be responsible for all dependent care services for the entire district.
Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard Vice Adm. Sally Brice-O’Hara with Coast Guard Military Spouse of the Year Laura Vanderwerf, Debbie Leavitt, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Michael P. Leavitt’s wife and Robert O’Hara, Vice Adm. Sally Brice O’Hara’s husband, at the Military Spouse of the Year award ceremony. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Telfair H. Brown Sr.
“It’s a challenge for us, but we’re familiar with that challenge,” said Rodney Whaley, the Transition and Relocation program manager at Coast Guard Headquarters. “We have some resources available that makes it a little easier for us to get that information to them, rather than our PCS family wasting time digging through 20 different links and sites to find it.”
In addition to the existing family resource specialists, Kleiman has plans to eventually put five additional dependent care specialists in the field, given the availability of resources. These specialists would concentrate solely on dependent care programs. Meanwhile, he’s also examining partnerships to provide other dependent care services to Coast Guard families, such as online tutoring support for children who need to catch up on academics for their new environment.
Finally, each unit has the option to select an ombudsman, someone responsible as the liaison between the command and the families. Vanderwerf, who was named the 2011 Coast Guard Military Spouse of the Year, would go so far as to forward local newspapers to families to make them aware of all possible resources that may be available.
When asked about the importance of the Coast Guard Ombudsman Program, Kleiman stressed, “it’s a network … we are not going to turn anyone with a question away.” By enhancing the ombudsman network throughout the Coast Guard, information can be made more readily available to family members who have traditionally had a difficult time getting important information about programs and resources that can provide some immediate assistance. To enhance this program, the Coast Guard has recently appointed a new ombudsman program manager to the Office of Work-Life at Coast Guard Headquarters and has added two additional positions for regional ombudsman coordinators, one on each coast.
“For us, everything seemed to work out in the end,” Vanderwerf added. “A lot of that has to do with the fact that I had contact with people who were there, who could give me advice about where to live, where not to live, and their thoughts for schools. That made it easier.”
This article was first published in Coast Guard Outlook: 2012 Edition.