BUSSW’s DeVoe Serves on NASEM Committee Responsible for Landmark Review on the Wellbeing of Military Families

Determined to better support military families and children, in 2017 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine (NASEM) assembled a multidisciplinary group of national experts – including BUSSW’s Ellen DeVoe – to lead a 20-month review of the Military Family Readiness System (MFRS), a program established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to strengthen the well-being of military families. The comprehensive report was released in July 2019.

At 332 pages, the report is multifaceted and complex. One of the key principles driving the study is that the well-being of military family members is critical to the Department of Defense. The committee’s recommendations focus on gaining a more complete picture of the diversity of today’s military families and strengthening the Military Family Readiness System’s coordinated implementation. While there is no civilian counterpart to the MFRS, the Committee advises the DoD to develop policies to enhance the collection, analysis, and application of knowledge about military family well-being and needs, creating a shared and evidence-informed knowledge base within the MFRS.

The report also identifies life experiences common among military-involved families such as frequent relocations and extreme stressors like combat exposure, injury and disability. Given the strains of nearly two decades of continuous conflict, the effect of these stressors on military families and service members can be challenging, and sometimes severe. As such, the Committee found it essential to strengthen programs that promote family resilience. Social support, communication, positivity and a safe and structured environment are among the key elements in their proposed strategies.

Overall, the report emphasizes that while the MFRS aims to provide a comprehensive support system, its programs can be strengthened by additional research, information sharing, and continual learning across its many policies, programs and services.

To help communicate the report’s contents to a wide audience, the Committee will hold a public meeting on September 12th to discuss its recommendations and parse out action steps that the Department of Defense and military and civilian practitioners can take to improve support of military families. Committee members and other stakeholders will be joined by an in-person audience and a virtual audience through an online event stream.

NASEM Report: Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society

To find out more about the Committee on the Well-being of Military Families and to view report details, please visit NASEM’s webpage here.

See a video summary of NASEM’s report here.

About Ellen DeVoe

Dr. Ellen DeVoe is a professor in the clinical practice department at BUSSW. She is one of two social workers on NASEM’s Committee on the Well-being of Military Families. As a trauma and violence researcher, she has focused on the well-being of families with young children in the post-9/11 era. For the last decade, Dr. DeVoe has directed the Strong Families Strong Forces project, funded by the Department of Defense and aimed at supporting military and veteran families through cycles of deployment and transition.