A&FRC, DoDDS aim to help families cope with challenges of deployments

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath Airman and Family Readiness Centers and Department of Defense Dependant Schools have joined together to host a Family Links event Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at RAF Lakenheath Liberty Intermediate School.

The event is specifically designed to help children and parents cope with the challenges of deployments. It is open to any military member or DoD civilian who deploys and has children.

"It's to help build resiliency in the communities (of RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath), as most of the kids go to school there so it's the best place to reach them," said Kevin Carrico, 100th Force Support Squadron A&FRC community support specialist, from Springfield, Ky. "(We want) to help both kids and parents develop coping skills."

The initiative originally developed from a meeting with a spouses group from the 321st Special Tactics Squadron, explained Carrico.

"One of the spouses asked if the community could offer a kids support group for those struggling with a parent being deployed. We checked into it and asked all the first sergeants to e-mail an online survey to everyone in their squadron," he said.

Enough interest was shown to warrant putting together a group, and DoDDS counselors and staff from the A&FRCs put their heads together and came up with the idea of the Family Links initiative.

In addition to DoDDS counselors and A&FRCs, mental health counselors and military family life consultants were also involved. Initially, the focus was on children, said Carrico, but the teachers thought an important element was also the parents, so they wanted to include them as well.

At the event, a school counselor and MFLCs will facilitate the groups.

Military members whose children attend British schools or are homeschooled are also invited

There will be a free dinner at 5 p.m., followed by group activities for about an hour.

Children will play a game in which they have to work together to achieve a goal. Afterwards, a facilitator will discuss the activity with them, and talk about how they can apply what they learned to real-life situations, helping them understand how they can help when a parent deploys.

"I encourage families to attend because deployments and separation affects the whole family unit," said Susan Reisch, DoDDS district school psychologist, from Kenmore, N.Y. "In order to help families handle a deployment, we need all family members to participate. We intend to provide information and techniques and offer support, to each age group, on dealing with the stresses of deployments and separations."

Reisch explained that although DoDDS works with school-age children, they aren't able to work with the whole family.

"We wanted a chance to meet with the parents and include them in the process of dealing with the deployments. Parents need to know what to do when a child is struggling with a parent being gone," she said. "Often the parent is also upset that their spouse is gone and it impacts the whole family. We thought if we could work with the whole family, we might have better success in helping the family deal with the separation."

The school psychologist said at the event, children and parents will learn techniques to deal with the stresses of a deployment and for the family to recognize if one of them is struggling. They will also learn where to go for information and assistance.

"There are a lot of resources here in the community and in the school," Reisch said. We would like them to have a feeling of support and know they are not alone in their feelings and issues during a deployment."

Free child care for children under 5 will be provided by Reserve Officers' Training Corps members. Sign up is required for the event. For more information, or to sign up, call the A&FRC at DSN 238-3406 or DSN 226-3847.