Family violence and the Family Advocacy Program

  • Published
  • By Diane Bradley
  • Family Advocacy Program assistant and Licensed Baccalaureate Social Worker
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The military, like any other organization, is not exempt from acts of family violence by its members. With longer, more frequent deployments to hostile areas and isolation from extended family due to assignments, stressors for military parents are very high.

When parents are not equipped to handle these stressors they sometimes take it out on their child or spouse, which results in a child or spouse maltreatment case. Does this make that parent a bad parent or spouse? No. It makes them a person who needs help in dealing with stress or anger.

The Air Force Family Advocacy Program is designed to help; program staff members are not responsible for any type of disciplinary action against the active-duty member. They assess the situation and offer a treatment plan that may include one-on-one counseling, marital counseling, parenting classes, stress and anger management classes, and referrals to community resources that may help them.

The old rumor if you go to Family Advocacy your military career will suffer because you will face disciplinary action is just that, a rumor. The member's commander is the only one who can administer disciplinary action; Family Advocacy offers treatment and education.

You may ask, "How does this work?" When Family Advocacy gains knowledge that either spouse or child maltreatment has occurred they immediately start putting together an intake sheet to help determine how to respond. The staff member who receives the information takes it to the Family Advocacy Officer who determines if the information warrants an assessment for maltreatment under Family Advocacy standards.

If the FAO determines it does warrant an assessment, notifications will be made to the member's first sergeant, 7th Security Forces Squadron, Office of Special Investigation and Child Protective Services, if the abuse involves a child.

The FAO also determines if there is a high risk for violence and if so, calls a meeting to put a safety plan in place to protect the victim from further abuse.

An appointment is made through the commander or first sergeant to interview all members of the family living in the home, including children. If it is a child abuse case, CPS is notified of the date and time of the interview. A joint interview is conducted by CPS and FAP, lending to less trauma for the child.

The treatment manager assigned to the case conducts interviews and writes a report of information gathered. The FAO reviews the report and prepares the case to be presented at the Central Registry Board. This board is chaired by the vice wing commander and attended by the FAO, wing command chief, member's first sergeant and/or commander, and a representative from the Staff Judge Advocate's office, security forces and OSI.

The board reviews only the facts of the case - information gathered from the initial allegation, information from the interviews conducted by Family Advocacy, any police reports and input from the first sergeant and/or commander.

They then use a decision tree to determine if the case meets or does not meet the Air Force's definition of maltreatment. This information is entered into a computer database. If the case meets criteria, Family Advocacy recommends a treatment plan for the family, which is encouraged by the member's command. If the case does not meet criteria, Family Advocacy will offer the family services such as counseling or parenting, stress or anger management. However, these services are voluntary and not entered in the outpatient medical record.

Prevention options offered by the Family Advocacy Program to help military families include DADS 101, a training program presented by dads for dads; New Parent Support Program Playgroup for expecting parents or parents with children 3 and under; and monthly age-appropriate parenting tips sent to your e-mail once a month.

For more information about Family Advocacy or their programs, call (325) 696-5380.