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Tagged With "military families pesonal finance"

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11 Free Courses Available for Disaster and Hazard Readiness

Hannah Hyde ·
FREE online courses offer free continuing education credit, are self-paced and offer practical solutions to local problems regarding disaster and hazard readiness
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Healthy Relationships Matter for Military Families

Hannah Hyde ·
Healthy relationship skills can make a big difference for the strength and resilience of military families. Military Family Service Providers and Extension Educators are a unique position to be able to provide research-based skills for couples and co-parents that will help them strengthen their relationships. Learn about an upcoming 5-part webinar series that will provide you with information, tools, and resources to help military families nurture and maintain a healthy relationship.
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Supporting Military Couples

Anita Harris Hering ·
Webinar series November 2021- May 2022 Military couples and families experience unique challenges with frequent relocation, deployment, and reintegration. Strong military couple relationships require an investment of time and effort and are vital in maintaining mission and family readiness. This webinar series shares research on the impact of military life on families, as well as tools and resources for service professionals to assist military couples and families in strengthening...
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Finding Thanks and Practicing Gratitude with Military Youth and Families

Jason M Jowers ·
Halloween candy is dwindling down if it wasn’t all gobbled up over the trick-or-treat weekend. The spooky season’s pumpkins have now transitioned into full-on fall decor. Families and friends will soon be connecting and coming together to celebrate and find thankfulness in another year with the quickly approaching holidays. The holidays also allow many of us to spend time consciously and prioritize the things that matter most. While celebrating with loved ones is first and foremost...
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Ways to Help Military Families This Holiday Season

Jason M Jowers ·
Title Picture Attribute: US Air Force [Timmy Payne admires his work on his family Christmas by Airman 1st Class Jessica H. Evans, Dec. 5th, 2015, CC0] The holidays are a time when getting together with friends and families is always important. Reconnecting with the ones we love can be rejuvenating and highlights what’s important to us. However, for military service members and their families, the holidays can be tough and it’s not always possible for service members to be home with family...
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Relationship Challenges and Counseling for Military Couples

Jason M Jowers ·
Military couples are very resilient and roll with the changes. They face many challenges that civilian couples rarely deal with, like multiple moves, deployments, and various other transitions. Challenges might also take the form of physical injury or invisible wounds of war, like traumatic brain injury, and PTSD. Sometimes spouses and children must take on caregiver roles as well. Even though there are similar issues that many military couples face, every relationship is different. And many...
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Time for a Relationship Checkup!

Anita Harris Hering ·
by Karen Shirer, Ph.D. Each year we plan to visit our health care provider and dentist for annual checkups in order to catch problems before they become major health issues. As an Extension educator, you often encourage your participants to get preventative health checkups and screenings for health concerns. But how often do we or our participants do a check-up of our intimate relationship health? The Relationship Checkup: Support for Military Couples , a recent webinar by the Military...
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Program for Recently Separated Veterans During First Year of Transition from Military Service

Rachel Brauner ·
Are you working with a service member or military family that may be transiting from active duty? In 2019, The Department of Veterans Affairs, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, launched the VA Solid Start (VASS) program in response to Executive Order (EO) 13822: Supporting Our Veterans During Their Transition from Uniformed Service to Civilian Life . The EO was established to improve transitioning service members’ mental health care and access to suicide...
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An Important Tool for Strengthening Couples’ Relationships in the Wake of COVID-19

Anita Harris Hering ·
by Karen Shirer, Ph.D. In Brief Relationship education (RE) for individuals, couples and families can provide critical support in recovering relationship health after disruptive events like the COVID-19 pandemic. A new podcast series on RE focuses on three important RE programs and resources — the NERMEM , Healthy Relationship and Marriage Training and Elevate for Couples . Dr. Ted Futris shares examples for applying the model’s components to your work with individuals and families in...
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2022 Academy on Social Justice Kicks Off June 1

Hannah Hyde ·
The 2022 Academy, "Family Well-Being: Navigating the Social Justice Landscape," features high-quality content with diverse and respected course authors and experts in subjects such as social justice, racial equity, identity formation, media representation, resilience, engagement through an antiracist lens, and building communities of belonging.
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Three Keys to Sustainable Change: The Path toward Social Justice and Supporting the Well-being of Diverse Families

Molly Herndon ·
The path of change towards social justice and supporting the well-being of diverse families may, at times, be difficult for professionals who serve families.
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2022 OneOp Military Family Readiness Academy Series- Family Development and Social Justice Issues

Jason M Jowers ·
The 2022 OneOp Military Family Readiness Academy Series is already underway! The 2022 MFRA Series focuses on individuals’ understanding of social justice and equity, including their own understanding of privilege and oppression. The content presented in the three asynchronous courses that make up the 2022 MFRA Series is robust and provides deep-level considerations for clinicians working with families and navigating issues of social justice and equity with their clients. This year’s series...
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Pillars of Successful Transition - Models to help Service Members and their Families Prepare for the Military to Civilian Transition

Molly Herndon ·
What Extension programs do you have related to these topics that could support service members as they transition to civilian life?
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Understanding Food Insecurity for Military Families

Jason M Jowers ·
By Jason Jowers, MS, MFT When families have a tough time providing adequate meals due to lack of access or affordability issues, they face a challenge known as food insecurity. This is a significant problem for many families in the U.S. today and military families are even more so affected by food insecurity. Emerging research has shown that many military families and veterans struggle to put food on the table. With inflation, supply chain issues, and increased food prices, many military...
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Suicide Prevention Month: Extension Resources from OneOp

Rachel Brauner ·
Military and veteran suicides is not only a public health concern within the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, but a concern within which the communities they live and serve. September is Suicide Prevention Month, and we want to highlight upcoming events from OneOp that may be helpful for service members, veterans, and military families within your local communities and surrounding counties. Suicide is a leading cause of death overall in the United States and the...
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Pillars of Successful Transition - Models to help Service Members and their Families Prepare for the Military to Civilian Transition

Molly Herndon ·
By Jenny Rea, Ph.D. While many separating Service members successfully adapt to civilian life, 40 to 75% describe some difficulties managing this major transition (Castro & Kintzle, 2017; Zoli, Maury, & Fay, 2015). For instance, within the first year of transitioning to civilian life, Veterans face increased challenges with homelessness, family integration, employment, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse, all of which can increase the risk for suicide ( VA,...
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The Military Family as a Cultural Identity - Supporting Families in Transition

Anna Peterson ·
Soldier with children | IStock
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OneOp Family Development 2022 Year in Review

Jason M Jowers ·
2022 has been a fantastic year for our team! We have hit record highs with live webinar attendance as well as soaring numbers of views of our on-demand programming via our YouTube page. We have also distributed an amazing amount of continuing education credits for our ever-growing audience based on their needs. What follows is a breakdown of all our programming from the past year, featuring significant highlights. Webinars We kicked off 2022 with a live webinar in our ongoing “ Sexual...
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The Impact of Deployment on the Parents of Service Members

Anna Peterson ·
In summary, most research on the impact of deployment excludes parents of service members and focuses on spouses and military children. Parents of service members experience military life differently but experience similar emotions as spouses and children. Parental support and closeness has been linked to the mental health and well-being of their adult children. Practical strategies and resources for Extension Educators and service providers are provided to help support the parents of our mil
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Helping Service Members Overcome Stress and Anxiety Challenges

Jason M Jowers ·
It’s a new year and many of us are getting back into the swing of things after the recent holiday break. Everyone is getting back to work prioritizing their to-do lists for the upcoming year. Many military service members and their families are doing the same. There are many great benefits to serving in the military, for service members and their families as well. Career and educational opportunities as well as fulfilling a sense of purpose. However, as with any great opportunity, there also...
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Uplifting the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Youth

Jason M Jowers ·
An estimated 5% of the 1.76 million youth in military families identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer. Surveyed LGBTQ youth with a parent currently serving in the military that experienced high levels of family support reported lower mental health challenges and suicide risk ( Trevor Project, 2022 ). When youth feel safe at home, their mental wellness is significantly improved. Fostering healthy family relationships translates into protective factors for younger and older...
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Three Strategies to Better Meet Military Families’ Needs

Anna Peterson ·
By Anna Peterson Summary Military-connected populations, including military families, face unique needs and barriers in finding services and care for family members. Extension educators/agents who serve military-connected populations can deploy three strategies to better meet their needs: 1) use the Social Determinants of Health model; 2) build collaborations with others; and 3) use a care coordination tool. Introduction The needs of the military-connected population (e.g., service members,...
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Food Insecurity Featured in Free Webinars From OneOp

Hannah Hyde ·
Connect with OneOp as they focus efforts on providing programming to equip professionals with tools and information about the prevalence of food insecurity, and connect them with resources to help families who are at risk.
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Let’s talk about nutrition security

Anna Peterson ·
By Noelle Harden I recently talked with my mom and grandparents about hunger and food insecurity in the military. My grandpa served in the air force, then worked for the Veterans Administration. My mom spent her childhood moving across the country from base to base. They shared their struggles to be able to afford healthy and affordable food. Food Insecurity in the Military The RAND Corporation released a report last month on food security in the military. They found that 15.4% of active...
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Off to College: Preparing Military Teens for Post-Secondary Education

Jason M Jowers ·
Military teens grow up with their own unique set of challenges. From parental deployments to relocation, teens in military families have learned to be flexible and resilient. That flexibility and resilience can be a great benefit when teens are planning their next steps after high school graduation. For many, that next step means heading off to college and laying the groundwork for the beginnings of a career. As military service providers, we can support military families as they navigate...
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New from OneOp: Military Cultural Competency Course Designed for Extension Professionals!

Maggie Lucas ·
Military families exist in every community and you, as an Extension professional, might serve them every day - whether you realize it or not. Around two-thirds of military families live off base and often live alongside civilians. Out of uniform, these service members are unrecognizable from civilians when they are in the grocery store, picking their kids up from school, and doing other everyday tasks in their community. The well-being of these families is crucial to the Department of...
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Healthy Eating Resources for Families Facing Food Insecurity

Jason M Jowers ·
As any parent can tell you, it can be tough to get your kids to eat healthy foods. Proper nutrition is an important part of raising happy and healthy families. But what happens when proper nutrition is difficult to obtain? Not having enough food to eat is a growing problem for many families, so it can be hard to eat healthily when food is limited. Whether a family is facing a lack of access to healthy foods or affordability issues, this challenge of food insecurity puts families through...
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Expanding Food Security in Military Families

Maggie Lucas ·
Since 2010, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Department of Defense have supported OneOp in delivering evidence-based programming focused on improving the well-being of military families. This year, the newest series within the Military Family R eadiness Academy streamlines the efforts of these two agencies into a single focus: to expand food security in military families. We value the support of our longtime advocate, Brent Elrod, Science Programs Officer and...
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Military Families and Food Security

Holly H. McPeak ·
Mark your calendars for OneOp’s upcoming Military Family Readiness Academy series , Military Families and Food Security: A Call to Action , starting on 1 June. The MFRA is a free virtual multi-disciplinary learning opportunity for service providers, expanding their knowledge to educate and support service members and families. Watch a special message from Mrs. Patricia Barron, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy at...
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Social Determinants of Health for Military Families in Transition

Anna Peterson ·
By: Jenny Rea, Ph.D. , Edited by Anna Peterson Arizona is home to 500,000+ service members, veterans, and their families. I recently had the opportunity to attend the Arizona Coalition for Military Families’ 13th Annual Statewide Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona. This annual event is Arizona’s only conference that brings together the military, government, and community. The symposium focuses on strengthening services and support for Arizona’s military-connected population. As Extension...
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Serving with Pride: The History and Impact of LGBTQ+ Military Service Members

Jason M Jowers ·
By Dr. Tiffany Lange, Psy.D. (she/her/hers) LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and related identities) people have existed throughout history (e.g., two-spirit in Native American cultures) and are present in every aspect of society – they are the people we know, the people we love, and even the people who serve in our military. In the United States (U.S.), less than 1% of the population volunteer to serve in the armed forces and there are often assumptions about...
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Helping Military Families Inflation-Proof Their Budget

Kristen Jowers ·
For over two years, U.S. inflation rates have exceeded their long-term average of about 3%. Like all Americans, military families have experienced a loss of purchasing power as their income cannot buy as much as it did previously. Individuals cannot stop inflation but they can mitigate its impact. Below are six inflation-fighting strategies for Extension professionals to discuss with Service members: Needs Versus Wants Analysis - During inflationary times, it is more important than ever to...
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Ten Tips for Military Families to Survive a “Financial Tornado”

Kristen Jowers ·
U.S. consumers haven’t just experienced a “perfect storm” of financial challenges…they have experienced a “perfect tornado!” Challenging financial events include sustained high inflation (and increased costs for food, utilities, rent, gas, insurance, housing, etc.), recession fears, increased interest rates, bank failures and government bank take-overs, volatile stock prices, lower savings rates, and increasing household debt. Extension professionals routinely answer questions from clients...
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Promoting Physical, Mental, and Emotional Wellness for Military Families

Jason M Jowers ·
Written by: Jason Jowers, MS, MFT The end of another summer is upon us. Families have geared up for back-to-school season and that means reestablishing routines that will last through the upcoming school year. With families getting back into the swing of things, it’s important to remember to prioritize self-care and wellness practices so as not to get overwhelmed with a jam-packed schedule. Incorporating health and wellness practices can help reduce the stress that military families...
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Preparing for Student Loan Payment Resumption

Kristen Jowers ·
Payments on federal student loans have been suspended, without interest, since March 2020. After a 42 month hiatus, payments will resume for borrowers in October 2023. More than three years of suspended payments is a long time. A lot can happen in borrowers’ lives. Here are seven tips to help military families prepare for student loan payment resumption this month.
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Scam Prevention Information for Military Families

Kristen Jowers ·
In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received over 93,000 reports of fraud by Military Consumers. Military families are frequent targets for scams. Explore the reasons for this, discover how you can help clients spot, avoid and report fraud.
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How to Support Attachment and Child Well-Being, Even in Times of Change and Transition

Jason M Jowers ·
Written by Summer Jones, ZERO TO THREE Between birth and age 3, a child’s brain develops one million neural connections per second (Center on the Developing Child, 2007). These connections are built through repeated experiences with their caregivers. Babies are born wired for connection, instinctively drawing responses from their caregivers that help strengthen the bond between them (Sullivan et al., 2011). The building of this bond, or attachment, is a two-way street between baby and their...
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Trending Topics in Financial Education

Kristen Jowers ·
Stay current with trending financial topics in order to effectively serve clients. Here is a brief description of five trending financial topics related to current events, economics, legislation, and consumer behavior. Implications for military families are described.
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Navigating Postpartum Challenges in Military Families: Understanding the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Mental Health

Jason M Jowers ·
Written by: Jennifer Novak, ZERO TO THREE The period following childbirth can be challenging for many new mothers, particularly within military families. Postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), encompassing conditions like postpartum depression (PPD), postpartum anxiety (PPA), and postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder, often pose significant mental health hurdles during this vulnerable time for families. When factoring in race and ethnicity within military communities, these...
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Re: Navigating Postpartum Challenges in Military Families: Understanding the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Mental Health

Sheila G ·
Great article! I find these situations/struggles not unique to military families, as I have seen similar scenarios with police and firefighter families as well. Conceptions about being tough, long periods of a spouse being gone, and or irregular schedules and the trauma of the job all contribute to the need for more support and understanding following the birth of a child.
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Financial Considerations for Pet Ownership

Kristen Jowers ·
Brown (2023) estimates that nearly 62% of Americans have a pet, and half of pet owners not only consider their pets to be a part of their family but say they are as much a part of their family as a human member. Identify ways for pet ownership to teach financial responsibility and explore special considerations for military families, including the new pet transportation allowance for CONUS and OCUNUS PCS moves.
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Re: Financial Considerations for Pet Ownership

Kristen Jowers ·
Thanks for your support @Troy Anthony Anderson !
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Re: Financial Considerations for Pet Ownership

Troy Anthony Anderson ·
Thank you for the timely blog post on this interesting topic.
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About the Extension Foundation

The Extension Foundation was formed in 2006 by Extension Directors and Administrators. Today, the Foundation partners with Cooperative Extension through liaison roles and a formal plan of work with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) to increase system capacity while providing programmatic services, and helping Extension programs scale and investigate new methods and models for implementing programs. The Foundation provides professional development to Cooperative Extension professionals and offers exclusive services to its members. In 2020 and 2021, the Extension Foundation has awarded 85% of its direct funding back to the Cooperative Extension System, 100% of funds are used to support Cooperative Extension initiatives. 

This technology is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension (funding opportunity no. USDA-NIFA-OP-010186), grant no. 2023-41595-41325 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Extension Foundation. For more information, please visit extension.org. You can view the terms of useat extension.org/terms.

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