HENDERSON HALL EFMP
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ICE is Nice
SPECIAL POINTS
OF INTEREST:
 EFMP Contacts
 EFMP Workshops &
Support Groups
 New School Liaison
 Resource of the
Month: Lending Library & Loan Locker
 EFMP FAQ: What is a
Special Needs Forum?
 Program Manager:
Thank You for Letting
Us Serve You
 EFMP Resource Fair &
Conference
 TRICARE Tip of the
Month
 Henderson Hall Happenings
 Facebook Live Chat:
Summer Camps
By Debbie Baker, Training, Education & Outreach Specialist
No, not the ice we’ve been dealing with way too often this winter
but the Interactive Customer Evaluation kind of ICE. ICE is a webbased tool that allows customers of DoD organizations to submit
online comment cards to provide feedback. Did someone give you
great service or provide you information or a resource that was helpful? Submit an ICE comment. Was there a service provided at another installation that you would like to see here? Submit an ICE comment. Did you encounter service that was
poor or not what you needed? Submit an
ICE comment. It allows us to know where
we are succeeding and where we can improve. And it informs decision-makers
where the program is making a difference
in the lives of Marine families. The feedback you give in your ICE comment is
anonymous unless you choose to provide your contact information.
You also have the option of requesting a response to your comment.
So yes, in this context ICE is nice — it allows you as the customer a
timely method of providing feedback and us as the program information to see what is working and what areas need improvement.
You can find the ICE link in the signature block of EFMP staff members’ emails and on the Henderson Hall MCCS homepage, http://
mccshh.com/index.html. Or follow this link and make a comment
now:
http://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?
fa=card&sp=112021&s=858&dep=*DoD&sc=6
HENDERSON HALL EFMP TEAM
1555 Southgate Road, Building 12, Arlington, VA 22214-5000
Email: [email protected]
Program Manager:
703.693.6368
Family Case Workers:
703.693.4172
703.693.6510
Administrative Support:
703.693.7195
Training, Education & Outreach:
703.693.5353
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P A G E
EFMP WORKSHOPS & SUPPORT GROUPS
For event registration:
[email protected] or 703-693-5353
Please register at least 1 day prior to event
Schedule subject to change
DATE
TIME
TOPIC
PLACE
Mar 11
CBIRF/Indian Head USO Center
1100-1300 Planning a Special Needs Move
14 Strauss Ave, Indian Head, MD
Mar 17
Marine Barracks Washington, Post 5
1100-1300 Planning a Special Needs Move
Ground floor, Room 146, Wash, DC
Mar 20
1100-1300
Mar 27
Henderson Hall
Respite Care Reimbursement Bldg. 12, Conference Rm.
1200-1300
Program Orientation
1555 Southgate Rd, Arlington,VA
or WebEx*
Apr 17
1100-1300 Positive Change of Schools
Henderson Hall
Bldg. 12, Conference Rm.
1555 Southgate Rd, Arlington,VA
Apr 21
1100-1300 Positive Change of Schools
Marine Barracks Washington, Post 5
Ground floor, Room 146, Wash, DC
Apr 24
Henderson Hall
Respite Care Reimbursement Bldg. 12, Conference Rm.
1200-1300
Program Orientation
1555 Southgate Rd, Arlington,VA
or WebEx*
Special Needs Forum (See
page 5 for more info)
WebEx*
* WebEx is a web-based meeting platform. See page 5 or webex.com for more information, or contact us
for with questions at 703-693-5353 or [email protected].
For more information about EFMP events see the EVENTS section of our
webpage: mccshh.com/EFMP.html or email [email protected]
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P A G E
New Henderson Hall School Liaison
By Jamie Albers, School Liaison Manager
I would like to introduce myself; I am Jamie Albers the new School Liaison Program
Manager for the Marine Corps Community Services, Marine & Family Programs at
Henderson Hall. I am coming from Ramstein Air Base, Germany where I was a School
Liaison for 3 years and prior to that at Whiteman AFB, Missouri for 2 years.
I have been a military spouse for 23 years and have two daughters
in college. During those 23 years we have PCS’ed 9 times and my
daughters have attended 10 different schools. I have first-hand experience moving a child from country to country, state to state, and school
district to school district. I understand the impact and unique challenges that military families may experience when transferring their
children to a new school and want to provide you the support needed.
The mission of the USMC School Liaison Program is to identify
and coordinate community resources to reduce the impact of the mobile military lifestyle on military school-age children and families; to
implement predictable support services that assist children/youth
with relocations, life transitions, and achieving academic success;
and to provide a wide range of resources that facilitate school transitions to parents, students, schools, commanders, and communities.
Our School Liaison Program can:
> Answer questions about school enrollment options
> Provide information about local schools and boundaries
> Provide information and resources for school choice (homeschool, independent study)
> Assist with inbound/outbound school transfers
If you have any questions or need transition assistance please contact me at (703)
693-8378 or email me at [email protected]. I look forward to working with you
and your family.
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P A G E
RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
EFMP Lending Library and Loan Locker
The Henderson Hall EFMP Lending Library and Loan Locker have a variety of resources
available for check out to sponsors, families and commands for up to 6 months. The Library
and Loan Locker are located in Room 117, Building 12 on Henderson Hall. The resources include books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and sensory and assistive items. The selection of sensory
and assistive items are available to try out to see if they are helpful for your Exceptional Family Member. Some of the items are pictured below. Book, CD, and DVD topic categories include parenting, autism, social skills, advocacy, special education, sibling issues, and more.
The complete list of materials can be found at this link: http://mccshh.com/pdf/
Lending_Library_Book_List.pdf. Lending Library and Loan Locker information is also available on our webpage: mccshh.com/efmp.html. Come by and check out the library and locker,
and check out some resources!
Tactile Sensory Bean Bags
Conversation starters
Tactile Sensory Ball
Fleece Weighted Vest
Weighted Duvet
Disc ‘O’ Sit
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P A G E
5
EFMP
Frequently Asked Question
Question: What is an EFMP Special Needs Forum?
Answer: EFMP Special Needs Forums give Marines and their families an opportunity to address all issues that affect Exceptional Family Members. These forums
are usually held in person with EFMP staff and installation representation present. In an effort to make participation in these forums more accessible we have
also tried soliciting feedback with email surveys and webbased meetings using the WebEx.com platform. The
next Henderson Hall EFMP Special Needs Forum
is scheduled for Thursday, March 20, 2014 from11
am to 1 pm using WebEx. It is a simple process —
you simply let us know you would like to “attend” by
sending an email to [email protected]. We will invite you to the meeting through WebEx and you will receive an email invitation with a link to join the meeting.
You simply click on the “Join” button prior to meeting
time (at least 5-10 minutes to make sure you can get
connected before the start time). The email invitation also gives a phone number
to call for audio if you don’t have a microphone associated with your computer.
You can join a “test meeting” to try out the process: http://www.webex.com/test
-meeting.html. You can even join the meeting using your mobile device! See this
webpage
for
more
information:
http://www.webex.com/products/web-
conferencing/mobile.html. Call us at 703-693-5353 or email [email protected] if you have any questions about EFMP Special Needs Forums.
M A R C H
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P A G E
Thank You for Letting Us Serve You
By
Michael S. Flaherty, M.Ed.
Exceptional Family Member Program Manager
Looking back at the last year, the Henderson Hall Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) continued to provide assistance to service members and their families
in support of special needs military families throughout the National Capital Region.
Along with our monthly parent support groups, trainings and workshops continued
throughout the year with topics such as: Planning a Special Needs Move, EFMP Basics, Exceptional Siblings, and Advocacy Skills. In addition to providing extra support
to our families of deployed Marines, we had the opportunity to assist several families
dealing with special education issues by attending their Individual Education Program
(IEP) meetings.
We appreciated the feedback that we received during our quarterly EFMP Special
Needs Forums. These forums were offered in a variety of formats – in person, via
email survey and using WebEx for web-based meetings. Depending on where you
lived, you had the opportunity to address issues dealing with EFMP, Children, Youth
and Teens, base housing, facilities, Semper Fit and medical. Thank you for your suggestions and ideas on how we can better serve you and your family. Our next Special
Needs Forum WebEx is scheduled for March 20, from 1100-1300. In October, we had
a major change in our EFMP Respite Care Reimbursement Program. The change focused on providing respite care reimbursement to only the sponsors who have Exceptional Family Members (EFMs) with the most severe and profound conditions. As we
approached winter, we hosted our Annual EFMP Holiday Party, which was enjoyed by
all. Thank you to all the families who attended this festive occasion and to the volunteers who made the event such a success.
As the Henderson Hall EFMP staff continues to move forward and develop our program to better meet the needs of our families, we ask for any thoughts or ideas you
might have for future workshops, resources or events. For example, maybe you attended a training or a workshop on base or at another installation and the information
that you gained ended up being very helpful to you and your family. To help benefit
other EFMP families, we ask that you please share those experiences with us so that
we can include those topics in our strategic planning of future workshops. As we
ready for Permanent Change of Station (PCS) season, please keep in mind that our
EFMP staff is here for you and your family to help with your transition to your new duty
station. Please give us a call and let us tell you about our warm hand-off (WHO) process and the different ways that we can offer you relocation assistance. On behalf of
our Henderson Hall EFMP team, thank you for the opportunity for us to serve you and
your family, and thank you and your family for your selfless service and dedication to
our great country; “Because Families Serve Too.”
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P A G E
Save the Date!
4th Annual Joint Services National Capital Region
Exceptional Family Member Program
Resource Fair & Conference
“Building a Circle of Support”
Saturday, March 29, 2014, 9 am to 3 pm
Joint Base Andrews Youth Center
4700 Yuma Rd, Joint Base Andrews, MD 20762
FREE event with community and military organizations represented providing information and resources. Over 20 breakout sessions available throughout the day presented by subject matter experts with topics that include TRICARE, Demos of related therapies, Special Education, and Disability Rights. FREE light lunch and door
prize opportunities. Limited FREE childcare available upon registration. To register
go to: http://andrewsfss.com/mfsc/efmp.html. For questions email [email protected].
TRICARE Tip of the Month
Behavioral Health Services
Did you know that TRICARE beneficiaries (non-Active Duty Service Members) do not need referrals or
prior authorizations for the first eight outpatient behavioral health care visits per fiscal year (FY)
(October 1–September 30)? This applies to service provided by TRICARE network providers for a medically diagnosed and covered condition. Prior authorization from your regional contractor (Heath Net
Federal Services for the North region) is required beginning with the ninth outpatient behavioral health
care visit per FY. Care access and rules vary by beneficiary type, location, and TRICARE program option.
See the TRICARE website for more information at http://www.tricare.mil/MentalHealth.aspx, or contact
TRICARE North Region Contractor Health Net Federal Services at 1-877-874-2273.
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P A G E
8
Henderson Hall Happenings
What are other Henderson Hall Marine & Family Programs up to?
Is a move in your near future? How about a class that can make the
process a bit less intimidating? The Henderson Hall Relocation Assistance Office holds a “Smooth Move” class each month on the 4th
Thursday, 1 pm to 3 pm, in the Building 12 Conference Room. Get a
bird’s eye view of your new duty station in a DVD format. Topics
discussed are the Distribution Management Office (DMO), Military
OneSource, the TRICARE Overseas program, passport procedures,
sponsorship, housing, budgeting for your move, and the EFMP
“Warm Hand Off” process. See the Relocation Assistance Program’s webpage for more
information, http://mccshh.com/RAP.html, or call the office at 703-614-7202.
Want to join the chat and get your questions answered? If
you’re a Facebook user, it’s as easy as 1-2-3:
Step 1: Visit the Marine & Family Programs Facebook page
at Facebook Live Chat time.
Step 2: Look for the Facebook Live Chat start announcement post that will look like the image on the left.
Step 3: Type your question in the box underneath that
reads, “Write a comment…”.
“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was
in me an invincible summer.” ~ Albert Camus
Like our Facebook page to get
the latest on our programs and
tips on great resources!
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this document do not
necessarily reflect the views or policies
of the Department of Defense, nor
does the mention of trade names, commercial products, gift suggestions, or
organizations imply endorsement by
the USMC.