These are federal resources that have been compiled to assist educators at all levels in better understanding and supporting the approximately 2.3 million children under the age of 18 living with a disabled Veteran and whose personal needs may compete with the caregiving tasks they perform for their Veteran parent or guardian. The resources may also be beneficial to other children, both in military and Veteran families without a disabled Veteran and in civilian caregiving homes. The resources offer information for educators, parents, and family members that focus on the academic, non-academic, and mental health needs of children living in military households, particularly Veteran caregiving households.
Department of Education
- FAQs on the Disability-Related Rights of Student Veterans with Disabilities (PDF)
- U.S. Department of Education Secretary Cardona's Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission (MIC3) letter of support: Secretary Miguel Cardona's letter supports the core values of the Military Interstate Compact to ensure educational success of highly mobile military-connected students.
- U.S. Department of Education Letter to State Directors of Special Education: This letter and list of resources provides guidance and describes several important principles that States, local educational agencies (LEAs), school staff, parents, families, and others may find helpful in ensuring that highly mobile children with disabilities receive required special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs in a timely manner.
- Comprehensive Center Network Teaching and Learning Resource Collection: These resources offer a broad range of instructional methods, curriculum materials, and tools that may be used to support learning at school, home, and in the community.
- What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides: The Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences has developed research-based practice guides that include practitioners' experience and the expert opinions of a panel of nationally recognized experts. A practice guide is a publication that presents recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools. You can access all the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides, listed in chronological order by date of release.
- Center for Parent Information and Resources: Resources for Military Families: This website provides information to support military families managing issues in special education. The Office of Special Education Programs-funded Branch Military Parent Technical Assistance Center also has numerous resources for families, including information to support military families receiving early intervention services.
- The National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) : NCSSLE provides federal resources and a series of lessons learned and best practices from faculty, staff, schools, LEAs, institutions of higher education, and early childhood education providers to foster collaboration with community partners and help students thrive. See also NCSSLE's Lessons from the Field Webinar Series.
- Family Engagement Research Brief: This brief provides research on the benefits of family engagement, standards that provide a framework for schools and out-of-school time programs, and strategies for building culturally sensitive environments.
- Supporting and Engaging Families: This resource from the Department's You for Youth contractor provides professional learning opportunities related to beyond-school-hours learning and tools to help identify strategies and plans to engage families.
- Knowing Families and Cultures, also from You for Youth, helps build cultural competence of staff by getting to know the cultures of program families.
- This Family Engagement Webinar, also from You for Youth, explores best practices for developing and improving relationships with students' families and provides free resources and ideas on serving diverse family needs.
- Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Needs: This handbook highlights seven key challenges to providing school- or program-based mental health support across early childhood, K — 12, and higher education settings and presents seven corresponding recommendations.
- The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition has an abundance of resources for states, LEAs, teachers, and families. Resources include webinars, factsheets, podcasts, and toolkits. The English Learner Toolkit is designed to support states and LEAs with resources to ensure they are meeting the legal obligations for serving English learners. The Newcomer Tool Kit is designed to help elementary and secondary teachers, principals, and other school staff who work directly with immigrant students—including asylees and refugees—and their families.
Department of Veterans Affairs
- Talking with Kids About Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A guide to help Veteran parents living with PTSD talk about their feelings and experiences with their children.
- Mental Health Education and Resources for Military Families: Explore resources to learn more about different kinds of mental health challenges, how they are treated, and how loved ones can help while learning tools to keep strong themselves.
- Parenting for Veterans: This site helps Veterans with parenting challenges: communication, discipline, emotional and physical challenges, emotions and behavior and managing stress.
- Parenting for Veterans: This site provides tips and strategies to help parents with physical or mental injuries and their families adjust to a new normal.
Department of Defense
- The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State is an applied research center located at The Pennsylvania State University. The Schools Empowering At-Risk Students team conducts research and creates learning modules along with other resources.
- Military OneSource (MOS) article — How to Talk to a Child About a Parent's Severe Injury: Talking with children about a parent's severe injury is a delicate subject that requires preparation and guidance. This article provides tips to guide the conversation.
- OneOp is a Department of Defense (DoD)-funded collaboration between the DoD and the Department of Agriculture Land Grant University System and provides free and open-access learning to military and community family support providers, including educators.
- Universal Service Administrative Company Affordable Connectivity Program: The Affordable Connectivity Program is a federal program that helps many low-income households pay for broadband service and internet connected devices.
- The Department of Defense School Liaison Program offers an array of services and resources to support children, parents, schools, and the surrounding community.
- School liaisons, as the primary contact for military families and educators, are experienced professionals who support, advise, and build partnerships to address common education challenges and provide the best possible education for military-connected students.
- School liaison support is available at no cost and open to all DoD identification card holders, educators who serve military students, and community partners involved with pre-K-12 education.
- Military families, educators, and other stakeholders can find their school liaison and/or services via MOS.
- Wounded Warrior Consultation the Essentials article: MOS provides wounded warrior specialty consultation services to help eligible wounded, ill, or injured service members, veterans, and caregivers get immediate assistance for issues related to health care, resources, facilities, and benefits.
- Parenting and Teen Stress article: Military-connected teens juggle frequent moves and parental deployments, fitting in at school, managing classwork and clubs, the daily tidal wave of hormones, and the ups and downs of high school romances. Here are some tips for recognizing stress and ways to help teens handle it effectively.
- Honoring Our Babies and Toddlers: Supporting Young Children Affected by a Military Parent's Injury Guide: A free resource from Military OneSource explores the issues of stress, trauma, grief, and loss as it relates to reunion with an injured parent.
- Time to Connect with Family Around Injuries, Illness and Recovery: A webinar offered through FOCUS that looks at the impact of a service member's injury or illness on the family. The webinar offers strategies for talking with children about their parent's injury or illness and describes the TeleFOCUS program, which offers resilience training by video for military families.
- The National Resource Directory (NRD): A resource website that connects wounded warriors, service members, Veterans, their families, and caregivers to programs and services that provide support. The NRD is developed, hosted, and managed by the Defense Health Agency's Recovery Coordination Program. It provides access to services and resources at the national, state, and local levels to support recovery, rehabilitation, and community reintegration. Visitors can find information on a variety of topics that supply vetted resources.
- Deployment Related Resources for Military-Connected Children: Department of Defense Education Activity counselors work with classes, small groups, and individual students to develop resiliency through character education, teaching positive coping strategies, and helping children experience the competence that leads to personal confidence. This link includes deployment related resources that parents, students, and educators may find helpful during the deployment process.