1. Per ref (a) the Coast Guard is transferring category five Special Needs cases OCONUS; even though all the support services are not readily available to members and their families. The Coast Guard has five assigned categories within the Special Needs Program. The category five medical conditions require constant, high-level attention, such as in complicated cancer cases, multiple disabilities, severe cases of autism, and multiple, complex educational needs. In this category, Active Duty members shall be stationed in geographic locations with access to a major-medical area within 25 miles, or 30-minute drive from assigned duty station. The current process is causing additional unnecessary stress on families caring for dependents with special needs. The Coast Guard must change this policy for members with special needs dependents in category five to CONUS locations only. 2. The Special Needs Program, working in concert with Personnel Services Command (PSC), Coast Guard Medical and other military and civilian agencies, provides a comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to community support, housing, medical, educational, and personnel services for Coast Guard families with special needs. By following specific procedures and …show more content…
guidelines, efforts will be made to ensure that sponsors with family members who have special needs are assigned to duty stations where access to, and availability of, medical and community services can be validated. This program is comparable to the Department of Defense (DoD) Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP). Enrollment in the Special Needs Program is mandatory per ref (a) and the member must update paperwork every three years. This program puts the entire onus on the member, and there is very little the member can do if the FRS, HSWL or medical office does not adequately do its due diligence on each case. With every case being different the Special Needs Program must ensure each office is attuned with community leaders to know what is going on in their respective areas. 3. Per ref (c) Meeting the needs of our people is essential to mission success. The Commandant, Admiral Zukunft, wrote in the USCG Human Capital Strategy the term “Coast Guard family” is more than a slogan. It denotes the care and connection that the Service places in its people and their families, and the way in which Coast Guard men and women look out for one another in both good and challenging times. When the needs of the family are not met, this creates undue stress not only on the member and family but the current command as well as the Coast Guard. To give one example of a Coast Guard family’s experience, a member was short toured from CONUS to transfer OCUNUS to support the needs of the service. Member had been enrolled in special needs for 10 years at this point. The member worked hand-in-hand with local HSWL office and OCONUS HSWL office, even reaching out to the FRS to explain the intricate details of his daughter’s special needs case. All parties involved understood the member’s daughter needed in-home nursing and a special needs classroom with a nurse accompanying her daily, along with all the other medical concerns. The member was assured these services were readily available. Upon transfer OCONUS, member was notified by outside sources that there was a shortage of nurses and teachers in the current location. The member’s child subsequently did not have an actual special education teacher for the two years while OCONUS and the family went through two nursing companies and 21 nurses because the child’s needs could not be met. Finally the member was short toured OCONUS due to these things not being readily accessible to the family. The Coast Guard lost time and money, and caused the family unnecessary hardship. In this instance, the Coast Guard Special Needs Program failed this member and his family and did not keep with the Commandant’s vision for the service, “Duty to People.” 4.
Category four and five of ref (a) are extremely similar in wording, but completely different when it comes to the needs for care. Category four medical conditions require significant attention and complex educational needs, while category five requires constant, high-level attention with multiple education needs. Both groups can PCS to the same list of locations, making the categories basically the same. Although the wording is slightly different, the requirements for families taking care of members in these different categories are worlds apart. Category five is the most severe of all these categories; thus we must ensure we do not put members in a compromising position to choose between service and
family. 5. To mitigate the risk of sending members OCONUS that should otherwise be denied, the Coast Guard must implement additional training for HSWL staff, PSC, medical personnel and service members or stop sending category five special needs cases OCONUS. By asking the hard questions and knowing what is going on in the OCONUS AOR, this would alleviate these problems. The Coast Guard spends thousands of dollars to transfer members and their families to OCONUS locations. All of this wasted time, effort and resources could be avoided by scrutinizing each Special Needs case. 6. Opponents to not sending category five special needs cases OCONUS would argue this is not equitable across the board, and per ref (b) each member must be available for worldwide assignment. Additionally, they may argue this will shift the burden of overseas transfers to a smaller pool of candidates. The truth is, today’s rates are big enough to withstand these isolated occurrences, and the competition for jobs in locations such as Alaska and Hawaii are in such high demand that there would be no significant effect at all. As senior leaders, we must look out for the service while also looking out for our members and their families. 7. A solution to revising the policy for assigning special needs category five families OCONUS would be to create an additional category, Homesteading. By allowing these individual situations to homestead their families in an area where services are currently in place would alleviate stress and keep continuity of care. To uproot a family and reestablish medical care for these cases can take upwards of a year to regain continuity of care for the affected family member. This would also benefit the Coast Guard financially not having to transfer these members every three to four years. Instituting this policy could see the Coast Guard possibly experience an increase in retention rates by showing further support for these families. Revising this process will remove undue stress on the families and help the member focus on daily Coast Guard duties. 8. The step-in Kotter’s Change Management Process that will be most challenging would be removing obstacles. With the Special Needs Program, PSC and Coast Guard medical all having a stake in this process. We must ensure these offices know how their decisions directly impact members and their families. Without a special needs family member to care for, the persons making these choices will never know the influence or ramifications of the decisions being made for these families. 9. As leaders, we must push not to send category five special needs families OCONUS. Instituting this change in policy is in the best interest of the Coast Guard as well as the members. Changing this policy would not only solidify continuity of care for the affected family member but also save the Coast Guard thousands of dollars. This change would underscore the term “Coast Guard family” is not just a slogan but our way of life. Our duty as leaders it to ensure we are taking care of our members, and the best way to accomplish this is to send category five special needs families to only CONUS locations. #
Six enlisted men who were professionally qualified psychiatric social workers were assigned to the newly formed Mental Hygiene Consultation Service at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. This event was the first time that military personnel who were professionally trained social workers were assigned and utilized as psychiatric social workers in a military unit. (Daley, 2009, p. 4)
The Scottish Government [TSG] (2005). National Care Standards - support services (revised march 2005) [PDF] available at The Scottish Government website; scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/239525/0066023.pdf
In 1942, World War II had been raging for three years. The United States of America have declared war upon the Axis powers following the devastating Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor. At this point in the war the Allies are in a grave situation. German forces have pushed the British off mainland Europe, and the Japanese have conquered much of the Pacific region, coming increasingly nearer to the American mainland. In order to combat this rising threat, the American military headship began to search for viable alternatives to replace widely used established tactics. The motive for this search for irregular methods the fact that the Allied forces were not strong enough to meet the Axis powers on a conventional
The applicant is currently employed as a Non Career Lifeguard for the City of Long Beach Fire Department- Marine Division.
Murphy’s law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. As someone who bears the name I can attest the truth in that statement. I have an extremely blessed life and do not endure the suffering that many people do on a daily basis. However, I have bizarre connections to small misfortunes and circumstances that follow me back as far as I can remember. Any acquaintance of mine will attest that things in my life never go as planned and anything that can happen will. Yet through a collection of misfortune, one can still find solace and benefit through their tribulation and see that negative experience could actually be positive.
Also, nurses and single parents with a life changing medical condition need to read this memo because it shows how various stressors impact health outcome and leads to poor health. According to Denollet, J., et al. (2010), suggest stress leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, cancer and heart diseases. The stress of not being able to get child care services for her two children has significant contributed to her illness. Many parents are faced with this issue across the United States, but in Katy’s case, she has inflicted with a life changing event a terminal illness that prevents her from working and paying for child care services. Katy received a letter from her employer stating that they will no longer reimburse for child care services because of her not working. Denial of child care has contributed to the exacerbation of Katy’s symptoms and poor health outcome. Therefore, I am requesting a meeting held during this week with Katy and the Department of Social Services (DSS). The discussion will be focused on denial of child care payments and agreement for a Fair Hearing to discuss Katy’s inability to work and her limitations. According to the Legal Aid Society (2016), a fair hearing
The family unit is recognized as an importance in the field of social work. If a family is in need of temporary assistance, social workers are in full support of this, because
6. Describe your experience(s) in providing and receiving professional helping services. It is a pleasure helping others, but I have also received help through utilizing services within the military network. I am a military spouse who deal with long deployments, short visits, and managing and coping require assistance from time to time. I take advantage of the free counseling services provided through the military’s mental health services because it keeps me
Living with a child with special needs can have profound effects on the entire family including the extended family members, siblings, parents, and the child with the special needs. It can affect all aspects of family functioning, since they have to be on the watch for the child. On the positive side, living with a child with special needs can expand horizons, develop family cohesion, increase the family members’ awareness of their inner strength, and promote connections to community groups. On the negative side, this child will need time, physical and emotional demands and financial cost in order to make the child’s life comfortable. However, the impacts will depend on the child’s condition, and its severity, as well as the emotional, physical, and the financial resources available to take care of the child.
Throughout Captain Geis’ career, he has been able to diversify his practice throughout the many positions that the Army has had available. Positions such as Division Social Worker allowed him to focus on the treatment of soldiers and their families. His current role as Chief of Social Work and Consultant to the Surgeon General of the Army affords him the maneuverability to push concepts that may be utilized across the military in support of prevention and treatment of behavioral health.
Pappas, L. (2013, November 2). Interview by S Pappas. Coping with a Child with Special Needs.
...re are many options for a patient regarding their health care and it is important that they are knowledgeable in all aspects.
The first category is health perception and health management. This pattern is related to the client’s view of health and well-being. This also includes the client’s knowledge of lifestyle, preventative health practices, and the client’s adherence to medical advice. The data collected is focused on the client’s perceived level of well-being and focuses on maintaining health. Smoking, alcohol use, recreational drug use, and other habits that are detrimental to the client’s health are also included in this category. This category also focuses on the client’s safety and health management in the home that may need modifications or for continued care in the home. An example of a sub category for this patter is risk-prone health behavior. This would include the client’s use of tobacco product, drugs, or alcohol (Koshar, N.D.). A question the nurse might ask is “On average, how many alcoholic beverages do you drink per day?” One nursing intervention for this would be for the nur...
supporting children and their families. This could be used where a family member maybe seeing a