Distinguished Lectures
A conversation with Military Connected Youth:
Insights from a Childhood of Service
Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth
PhD, Professor; Director, Center for Families, Director, Military Family Research Institute and Executive Director, Family Impact Institute at Purdue University
Patricia Lester
Nathanson Family Professor of Psychiatry, Director
of the Division of Population Behavioral Health, Director
of the Nathanson Family Resilience Center, and the Medical Director
of the Family STAR (Stress, Trauma and Resilience) service
at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
This session joins two leading researchers and a panel of military-connected youth for an important conversation about experiences during their family’s military service. Most significantly the discussion will highlight how growing up as a military-connected child relates to each student’s current strengths, hopes and aspirations.
Leveraging Military Family Strengths
Episode 62
In today’s podcast Dr. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth and Dr. Patricia Lester will share their insights and perspective about leveraging military…Depression and Anxiety in Children and Youth:
An Overview of Medical, Psychological and Academic Implications
Michael Faran, MD, Ph.D.
Director, Child and Family Behavioral Health System-Program
Management Office, United States Army Medical Command, Madigan Army Medical Center
Paul K. Ban, Ph.D.
Director of Outreach, Child and Family Behavioral Health
System-Program Management Office, United States Army
Medical Command, Madigan Army Medical Center
Dr. Patti Johnson, Ph.D.
Deputy Chief, Child and Family Behavioral Health
System-Program Management Office, United States Army
Medical Command, Madigan Army Medical Center
Kendon Johnson, Ph.D.
Counseling Instructional Systems Specialist (ISS),
DoDEA, Americas Southeast District
Col Eric Flake, M.D.
Program Director, Department of Defense (DoD)
Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship,
Joint Base Lewis McChord, and Founder,
DoD Autism Center JBLM CARES
Childhood anxiety and pervasive depression in youth are concerns for educators and parents alike. A panel of experts who work with military-connected children will share diagnostic and treatment information, along with the beginnings of Information Guides that can be shared among parent, military and educator groups.
5 Actions for Exceptional Parents with Dr. Paul Ban
Episode 50
Dr. Paul Ban shares five actions parents with children with special or 2E twice exceptional needs can take when advocating…
A Village of Hope with Dr. Eric Flake and his daughter Kelsey
Episode 51
Extraordinary Military Kid, Kelsey, talks about moving, friends and offers some great advice to other teens. Her dad, Developmental Behavioral…Supporting Military Students:
An Introduction to the Military Interstate Compact
In 2006, the Council of State Governments’ (CSG) National Center for Interstate Compacts (NCIC), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense, national associations, federal and state officials, State Departments’ of Education, and school administrators drafted the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The Compact provides for the uniform treatment of military children transferring between school districts and states by addressing key educational transition such as: eligibility, enrollment, placement and graduation. The Commission, composed of fifty member states and the District of Columbia, work in concert to help ease the transitions of military children as they transfer interstate between public and Department of Defense schools. In this introductory session, learn how the Compact works, state structure and implementation, rules and regulations, and how the Compact supports military students.
Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) Podcast
Episode 15
Through the Interstate Compact, MIC3 addresses key educational transition issues encountered in public schools by military children. In this episode,…Supporting Military Families with Very Young Children:
Lessons from Strong Families Strong Forces
Ellen R. DeVoe
Boston University School of Social Work,
Strong Families Strong Forces Prevention
Strong Families Strong Forces is a family-centered parenting program developed to support military families with very young children through all phases of the deployment lifecycle. In the post-9/11 era, approximately 2.8 million service members have experienced wartime deployment and nearly half are parents (RAND 2018). Children under age 6 are the largest age group (40%) and are dependent upon parents and caregivers to provide a secure base for growth and well-being in the early years of rapid developmental progression. Prolonged parent-child separation, including military-related family separations, strains the family system and presents unique challenges for very young children. Key principles of the Strong Families program, including the application of reflective practice, a stance of cultural humility, use of military-specific developmental guidance, and consideration of the phase of deployment, will be discussed. The potential implications of early childhood experiences of parental deployment for practitioners and educators will be addressed.
Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) Podcast
Episode 15
Through the Interstate Compact, MIC3 addresses key educational transition issues encountered in public schools by military children. In this episode,…The Impact of Caregiving on Military Children
Karen Ruedisueli
Government Relations Deputy Director,
National Military Family Association
A 2017 research blueprint, commissioned by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, and conducted by the RAND Corporation, revealed that no published studies exist exploring the impact of caregiving on the children of military caregivers. Despite this, we understand that the family dynamic is markedly different where one parent is injured, and the other a caregiver. In July of 2018, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and the National Military Family Association partnered with support from Wounded Warrior Project to host a convening to understand the key issues facing the children of military caregivers today, and to develop a plan for collecting further information and advancing support for these hidden heroes.
In early 2019, EDF and NFMA unveiled the report from that event and launched an exploratory study to further understand the needs of these children. This session will walk through the recommendations of the report and share preliminary findings that will continue to shape our collective understanding of the needs and challenges of our nation’s military caregivers and their children.
Military Children’s Health Records:
Protecting Privacy while Ensuring Needed Access
CAPT Edward Simmer
Deputy Chief & Chief Clinical Officer, TRICARE
Health Plan Officer in Charge,
DHA Navy Element Defense Health Agency
Stephen J. Cozza, MD
Electronic Health Records (EHR) have become indispensable for the safe practice of modern medicine, and this is especially true for the Military Health System, where beneficiaries frequently move, receive care from both government and civilian providers, and have access to a very robust benefit. This discussion will explore the current and future uses of EHRs in the Military Health System and highlight the safe guards in place to protect patient privacy. While the uses of EHR bring many benefits, there are also some risks specific to the Military Health System. Specifically addressed in the session will be recently voiced concerns about the use of the military medical records of military children to inform decisions about whether those children meet accessions standards for entry into active duty military service. In addition to ethical concerns and a probable added burden to military children (in comparison to their civilian counterparts whose medical records are often not available for review), the discussion will explore possible untoward consequences of such practices, including stigmatization or the reluctance of military parents to seek required mental health services for their children. Lastly, discussion will highlight how the population of American youth is increasingly diagnosed with mental health conditions and have received treatment. This reality will make fewer and fewer children eligible for service based upon current accessions standards.
Take Action! Four Military Life Issues that Impact Military Kids & What YOU Can Do about Them
“Support military families! Support military kids!” -It’s a rallying call we all here often, and you are here because you care about and want to support military kids…. But what does “support our kids” actually mean? This conversation will outline four major military life events, discuss emerging trends impacting each event, and illustrate how they affect military kids. It will offer actionable solutions for parents, teachers, administrators, and state policy-makers to help alleviate unnecessary burdens on military families and help the set the conditions for military students to thrive.
Blue Star Families
Episode 58
In this podcast, Army spouse, daughter, and sister, Jenny Akin, an Applied Research Analyst from Blue Star Families talks about…
Military Family Advisory Network
Episode 60
Shannon Razsadin and Shelley Kimball from the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN) discuss what they are seeing surface through the…Understanding the Experiences and Meeting the Needs of LGBTQ Military-Connected Children
COL Keith Lemmon, MD, FAAP
Chief, Department of Soldier and Community Health and Medical Director, School Based Health System Adolescent Medicine/Pediatrics, Madigan Army Medical Center
KJ Ward
Editorial Consultant, Writer, and Co-Creator,
Born and Raised and LGBTQbrats.com
The barriers to health and wellbeing, the search for acceptance, and the path to empowerment that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth experience, in general, are well documented. The unique experiences of youth who are both military-connected and LGBTQ, however, are under-researched. This session poses hypotheses related to this intersection and explores perspectives on the landscape of resources and how to best support young people and their families.
Impact Aid & Why it is Good for Military Connected Students
Dr. Keith Mispagel
Superintendent, Ft. Leavenworth Unified School District #207
Hilary Goldmann
Executive Director,
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
Are those Impact Aid forms Important? Why should I fill them out? Come to this session to find out the answers to these questions and more. We will discuss the purpose of Impact Aid and the problem it is intended to address. Public school districts educate more than 80 percent of military-connected children. The leaders of these districts take their jobs seriously and are proud to support the mission of their neighboring installations.
Impact Aid
Episode 13
The President of the Military Impacted Schools Association (MISA), Superintendent Dr. Keith Mispagel, who is also on the board of…Sesame Street for Military Families: Recognizing and Preventing Bullying
For over a decade, Sesame Street for Military Families (SS4MF) has worked to support children and families through the challenges of relocations, deployments, and transitions. While helping families navigate times of separation and change, we have found that these unique experiences can lead to another big challenge – bullying. Moving to a new neighborhood and building new friendships requires a lot of resilience and courage. When children face bullying behaviors from peers – whether physical aggression, name-calling, or exclusion – they need support from trusted adults to help recognize and handle bullying. Join us for a practical look at how we can intervene when we recognize that a child is experiencing bullying, and how we can prevent bullying behaviors by helping children learn to express their emotions differently. Come join us for an interactive session with free Sesame resources and some extra surprised and giveaways you won’t want to miss!
Sesame Street for Military Families with Rosita
Episode 46
Listen in to our “For the Sake of the Child” podcast to hear about the vast array of amazing resources…Supporting Transitions – A Panel of School Personnel
Patricia Bradley Ewen
Education Policy Advisor for the Partnership
and Resources Division within the
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)
Jennifer Dailey-Perkins
Education Partnership and Resource Specialist within the
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)
Military-connected students often face the realities of acclimating to new schools, acquiring new relationships and coping with parental deployments while maintaining academic expectations. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) through their Partnership Grant Program partners with U.S. public schools to support school environments that are supportive transition experiences and encourage education continuity In this distinguished lecture, DoDEA grantees will showcase age-appropriate, evidence-based best practices in transition support to K-12 military-connected students. Grantees will describe their transition support goals, model, services and impact of their implementation model on students and their community. The lecture will conclude with dialogue between grantees and attendees regarding the importance of transition support on student impact.
DoDEA Programs
Episode 63
Are you PCSing overseas? In this podcast, Kathleen Facon, Chief of Education Partnership and Resources with the Department of Defense…Committee on the Well-Being of Military Families – World Cafe
Military Family Well-being and Resilience
Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Ph.D.
Purdue University
Military Life: Challenges and Opportunities
Laura L. Miller, Ph.D
RAND Corporation
Tracy Neal-Walden, Ph.D., Steven A. Cohen
Military Family Clinic at Easter Seals
DoD Support Systems for Military Families
Daniel F. Perkins, Ph.D.
The Pennsylvania State University
Ivan C.A. Walks, M.D.
Ivan Walks & Associates
Future Needs of a DoD Support System
Patricia Lester, M.D.
UCLA Semel Institute
Ashish S. Vazirani, M.E., M.B.A.
Armed Services YMCA
Stress Exposure and Supports for Military Family Well-Being
Stephen J. Cozza, M.D.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Ellen Devoe, MSW, Ph.D.
Boston University
In this interactive session, committee members will facilitate roundtable discussions around study topics and recommendations. Participants will have an opportunity to pose questions to committee members to reflect on the report themes and delve into what the recommendations mean for the DoD. The session will be conducted in three rounds, with 15 minutes during each round. During each round participants sit in on a table topic of interest to them.
5 Actions for Exceptional Parents with Dr. Paul Ban
Episode 50
Dr. Paul Ban shares five actions parents with children with special or 2E twice exceptional needs can take when advocating…
A Village of Hope with Dr. Eric Flake and his daughter Kelsey
Episode 51
Extraordinary Military Kid, Kelsey, talks about moving, friends and offers some great advice to other teens. Her dad, Developmental Behavioral…
