The Exceptional Family Member Program or EFMP is a mandatory

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

enrollment program that works with other

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

agencies to provide comprehensive and coordinated

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

support,

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

al,

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, and personnel services worldwide to U.S. military families with special needs. Service members on

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

enroll in the program when they have a family member with a physical,

developmental Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitosis ...

, or emotional or mental disorder requiring specialized services so their needs can be considered in the military personnel assignment process. Family members must be

screened A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be permanently installed on a wall, as in a movie theater, mounte ...

and enrolled, if eligible, when the service member is on assignment instructions to an

OCONUS The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The ter ...

(outside the continental

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) area for which

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

sponsorship/family member travel is authorized, and the service member elects to serve the accompanied tour. This screening consists of

medical record The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and health care, care across time within one particular health care provide ...

s review for all family members, and developmental screening for all

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

72 months (6 years) of age and younger. Service members are responsible for keeping their EFMP enrollment current as exceptional family member conditions change, or at least every three years, whichever comes first. The U.S. Coast Guard does not participate in the EFMP program since it is not a

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

branch. Instead, USCG members are required to register in the Coast Guard Special Needs Program by contacting work-life staff at the nearest Integrated Support Command. Each service has its own specific program governed by the following references:
Army - Regulation 608-75

Navy - OPNAVINST 1754.2

Marine Corps - MCO P1754.4A

Air Force - AFI 40-701 Medical Support to Family Member Relocation and Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)

Coast Guard - COMDTINST 1754.7A

External links

Military Homefront: Supporting Our Troops and their Families

National Naval Medical Center EFMP
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004233752/http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/patient/health_care/children%27s_health/pediatrics/exceptional_family_member_program_%28efmp%29.aspx , date=2006-10-04
STOMP Project for military families with special needs children
Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Military life Disability law in the United States

See also

Further reading

External links