BCTR briefs Army Reserve Family Programs’ leadership

Brian Leidy and Marney Thomas

The quarterly meeting of the Army Reserve Family Programs leadership was held in Raleigh, NC the week of January 28 to February 1, 2013. Attending along with Army Reserve Headquarters staff and center directors and coordinators throughout the United States were representatives from the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) Military Projects. Dr. Brian Leidy and Dr. Marney Thomas provided an overview of the Cornell plan to partner with Army Reserve Family Programs staff to evaluate the efficacy of their family outreach programs. This work is funded by a grant through United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Army Reserve. The two-year project beginning April 1st will involve staff from the BCTR and the Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation (CORE). The Army Reserve-Cornell partnership will develop performance metrics and measures of effectiveness for the family support programs that the Army Reserve provides for all reserve soldiers and their families. In addition, the partnership will develop a standardized needs assessment to gather community input on the needs of reserve soldiers and family members who are geographically dispersed, usually living many miles from the nearest military installation. This needs assessment data will be used by the Army Reserve to prepare for a forthcoming accreditation process that each Family Programs Center will undergo on a tri-annual basis.

This project is an expansion of the work that the Military Projects have been doing for over ten years with the Active Duty Army family programs, and project staff are looking forward to bringing applied research methodology to the Army Reserve and entering into a second collaboration with CORE. Currently BCTR and CORE are partnering through another USDA NIFA-Department of Defense (DoD) grant with the DoD Office of Community Support for Families with Special Needs to develop process and outcome metrics for the Exceptional Family Member Programs across all four Services. Other projects include outcome evaluation with the Army Family Advocacy Program, and Army Community Services Program, and assisting the Air Force Family Advocacy Program in developing public awareness campaign materials for their Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month, Domestic Violence Prevention Month, and Dating Violence Prevention Month.

The Military Projects announces funding for multiple projects

The Military Projects announce new and continued funding for multiple programs to design and implement evaluation studies, develop common reporting metrics, and create research informed training materials. These projects support the military Family Programs’ goal to sustain the well-being and readiness of military service members and their families, in all branches worldwide. Details on each are below.

Army Family Advocacy Program

The Military Projects within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research were recently awarded new funding by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Defense under Agreement No. 2011-48581-31017 to develop Army Family Advocacy Program (FAP) prevention and educational materials and design and implement evaluation protocols for selected programs.

Prevention campaign materials will be developed for Army Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month, which are sponsored Army-wide. A self-guided training module on the Transitional Compensation Program will be developed to inform commanders about this important benefit program for victims of abuse. Program evaluation will be underway for the New Parent Support Program (NPSP) Home Visitation program and the Victim Advocacy Program.

Leidy, Enroth, and Thomas

This is an annual renewal of work begun more than twenty years ago for the Army Family Advocacy Program which provides programs for Army families to thrive in challenging situations such as deployment and frequent relocation. The program also provides prevention education and intervention for child and domestic/partner abuse and offers home visitation services to Army families worldwide to promote positive parenting and reduce stress. This work will be carried out between September 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013 and will be led by Brian Leidy, Cindy Enroth, and Marney Thomas.

Department of Defense’s Office of Community Support for Military Families with Special Needs Performance and Outcome Metrics

Leidy and Trochim

The Military Projects within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research were recently awarded funds by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Defense as a continuation of Agreement No. 2010-39562-21770 to assist the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Office of Community Support for Military Families with Special Needs in developing common reporting metrics among the four Branches of the Military for their Exceptional Family Member Program activities and outcomes. This work will be carried out in partnership with the Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation (CORE) between September 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013 and will be led by Brian Leidy at BCTR and William Trochim at CORE.

United States Air Force Family Advocacy Program Violence Prevention Campaign Materials

The Military Projects within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research were recently awarded funds by Kansas State University as a sub-agreement of their award from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Defense, Agreement No. 2012-39575-20317 to assist the Family Advocacy Program of the United States Air Force (USAF) to develop and implement a set of standardized prevention campaign/marketing materials as the initial phase of a toolbox which would be utilized by their base outreach coordinators around Teen Dating Violence Month (February 2013); Child Abuse Prevention Month (April 2013) and Domestic Abuse/Violence Prevention Month (October 2013). This work will be carried out between September 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013 and will be led by Marney Thomas, Cynthia Enroth, and Brian Leidy.

Military Projects renewed to evaluate U.S. Army’s Family Programs

The Military Projects within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research was recently awarded $267,372 by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Defense under Agreement No. 2011-48746-31000 to conduct program evaluation and needs assessment for Family Programs in the United States Army.

This is a renewal of work begun more than ten years ago that includes the development of performance and outcome metrics to be used by Family Programs across the Army and assisting local Army installations as they carry out needs assessment in preparation for their tri-annual accreditation process.  The Family Programs in the Army provide education, counseling, and support to help military families deal with the unique stressors of military life. Military families typically experience lengthy family separations, frequent moves, and isolation from family support networks while serving in locations across the country and overseas.

Brian Leidy and Marney Thomas

This work will be led by Brian Leidy and Marney Thomas, both Senior Extension associates at the center and will be carried out between September 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013.