1. PLEASE PASS TO ALL PERSONNEL
Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) eNewsletter
The March edition of the EFMP eNewsletter
(http://cs.mhf.dod.mil/content/dav/mhf/QOL-Library/MHF/255674.html)
highlights the launch of new Special Needs content on Military
OneSource and important information about the Computer/Electronics
Accommodations Program (CAP) that will help improve patrons’ access to
EFMP services. Valuable TRICARE information and a link to the new
Special Care Organizational Record for Adults with Special Health Care
Needs were also provided.
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Special Needs Materials (Update)
As of March 19, 2010, military families with special needs and EFMP
installation personnel have placed orders from Military OneSource for
512 hard copies of the Special Care Organizational Records for Children
with Special Health Care Needs, and 711 DoD Special Needs Parent Tool
Kits.
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Exceptional Parent (EP) Magazine
EP Magazine (http://eparent.com) is a commercial magazine for parents
of children or young adults with disabilities. The magazine includes a
monthly military insert that features special needs articles that are
beneficial for exceptional family members and wounded warriors. The
March 2010 edition of EP magazine features an article written by Isabel
Hodge. Isabel is the Special Needs/EFMP Family Support Program Manager
for Military Community & Family Policy. The article titled, Defense
Department Provides Exceptional Service to Exceptional Families,
discusses the EFMP, the EFMP Awareness Campaign that is underway and
many of the valuable resources that are available to military families
with special needs from MilitaryHOMEFRONT and Military OneSource, such
as the Special Care Organizational Record for Children with Special
Health Care Needs.
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Positive Feedback for eSponsorship Application & Training(eSAT)
The initial feedback for the eSponsorship Application & Training
(http://apps.mhf.dod.mil/esat) since the application’s soft launch on
March 10th has been outstanding and usage is exceeding expectations. In
the initial week of usage over 75% of installations have tested the
system and 7 installations have trained over 150 sponsors. Comments
from users:
“I just went through the whole process and what an awesome tool. A
nice replacement for the paper versions.”
“Thank-you-just FAB!”

2. “For the initial training portion, the program is great. The
checklist is a good starting point.”
“Went through the training and thought it was useful. I did however,
believe that most was common sense. It is a good way to convey what is
expected of a command sponsor though.”
“I really liked the training. Took it. It was short, not overwhelming
as online training could go, also liked the ability to add the person I
would be sponsoring into the program.”
This week, a series of reports were introduced to the application
allowing installations to monitor the number of sponsors trained, view
the communication flow between sponsor and newcomer and keep units
informed. Installations can ensure that congratulation letters, needs
assessments and welcome packages are sent in a timely fashion.
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Commissary Benefits. DeCA is delivering the benefit with on-site sales
events at the following Guard and Reserve locations:
March 29, 2010 Guard and Reserve Wailuku, HI
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National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Reading
Assessment
Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) fourth and eighth
grade students continued their strong performance on the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Reading Assessment. The
NAEP was administered to all DoDEA fourth and eighth grade students
from January to early March. DoDEA's domestic and overseas school
systems participated in NAEP as a single jurisdiction.
In 2009, the average score on the Reading Assessment for DoDEA’s fourth
graders was 228. This score was not significantly different from their
average score of 229 in 2007, but it was higher than the 2009 average
score of 220 for their counterparts in public schools nationally.
DoDEA’s eighth grade students’ average score for the NAEP 2009 Reading
Assessment was 272. This score was not significantly different from
their average score in 2007 of 273, and like their fourth grade
colleagues, the DoDEA students’ 2009 average score was higher than the
average score of 262 for public school students in the nation.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only
nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's
students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are
conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the
arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history. NAEP does not
provide scores for individual students or schools; instead, it offers
results regarding subject-matter achievement, instructional
experiences, and school environment for populations of students (e.g.,
fourth-graders) and groups within those populations (e.g., female
students, Hispanic students).
NAEP results are based on a sample of student populations of interest.
DoDEA students at both the fourth and eighth grade levels continued to

3. maintain their upward trend over the past 12 years in reading
assessment scores. In 1998, DoDEA students’ average score on the NAEP
Reading Assessment was 222 when compared to 228 in 2009. DoDEA eighth
graders average score on the NAEP Reading Assessment in 1998 was 269;
in 2009 the average score was 272. These results follow a national
trend, with overall results for fourth graders in 2009 remaining on an
upward trend.
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Freshman Nicole Perry of M.C. Perry High School in Iwakuni, Japan
earned top honors at an awards ceremony held March 18 for finalists in
the 30th Annual DoDEA Pacific Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.
Perry made her formal oral presentation titled "Environmental Products:
Green or Mean" before nearly 100 of her peers and a panel of four
judges including National Science foundation Tokyo Regional Office
Director Dr. Machi Dilworth; NASA Attache with the U.S. Embassy in
Tokyo Justin Tilman; U.S. Coast Guard ENS Jessica Navarro; and 1983
DoDDS Pacific JSHS Champion Chris Zeitvogel. Perry bested 22
presentations delivered by fellow DoDEA Pacific high school students
from Guam, Japan, South Korea and Okinawa to claim first place. The
announcement was a pleasant surprise to Perry, "There were some great
presentations given during JSHS, and I feel very honored that they
thought my research was so good!" Her victory comes with a $2000
undergraduate tuition scholarship and a free trip to Bethesda, Md. at
the end of April to compete on a national stage with 240 regional JSHS
winners from all across the U.S.
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For the ninth consecutive year, the Quantico Middle/High School Marine
Corps JROTC Drill Team took first place at the Mount Vernon High School
(Alexandria, Va.) Invitational Drill Meet. The team competed Saturday,
March 6, against eight teams from Virginia and Maryland, according to
Quantico High School's Senior Marine Instructor retired U.S. Marine
Corps Lt. Col. Paul D. Roy. The Quantico MS/HS Drill Team also won the
following awards: third place in the color guard; second place in drill
with arms; first place in drill without arms; and first place in the
personnel inspection and knowledge event. Quantico's Drill Team
Commander Meredith Bell was selected as the "Most Outstanding Drill
Team Commander."
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From AFN-Europe -- According to the Center of Disease Control,
childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. SSgt
Jessica King shows us how kids at Aviano Air Base, Italy, are fighting
that statistic through a special program. Weblink:
http://www.afneurope.net/itemlink.aspx?itemId=12161
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Take a look at this Pentagon Channel interview with Dr Miles about the
Let's Move Program and more....
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/?fr_chl=1fdf33d4d480109230f2fbd4c816a90a
9b3e8331&fr_story=15ee55ed33993475e799ec47dbbbcd7c6c9e969e

4. ---
On Tuesday, March 23 the OSD FAP office was briefed by the Military
Advocacy Program Coordinator for the Battered Women's Justice Project
about a new project funded by the Dept. of Justice Office On Violence
Against Women. The project: "Building Effective Civilian Responses to
Military-Related Intimate Partner Violence" will
(1) create a network of military and civilian advocates to improve
victim advocacy in cases where the suspected abuser was on active
duty, in the reserve component, or is a veteran;
(2) identify and provide technical assistance to two communities
where the civilian and military leadership wish to create a
coordinated community response to domestic violence; and
(3) develop a coordinated approach for communities to address
incidents in which the domestic violence co-occurs with combat-related
PTSD.
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Financial Tips of the Week
Blank Checks from Your Credit Card Issuer Carry Risks and Costs
Those blank "convenience checks" from your credit card company offer a
quick way to write yourself a loan, pay bills or transfer other loans
to your credit card account. But be aware that the use of a convenience
check is a "cash advance" that comes with high costs and other
potential pitfalls.
• Take precautions to avoid serious fees and penalties if there's a
glitch when you deposit a convenience check into your checking account
or send it to pay a bill. Before you write a check, make sure that it
will not put you over your limit for cash advances. Also find out what
the current limit is in case your credit company reduced the amount you
may borrow on your card through cash advances and you forgot or did not
notice. "If the convenience check puts your card balance over the new
limit, your card issuer may not honor the check," said Luke W.
Reynolds, Chief of the FDIC's Community Outreach Section. "The
returned check could trigger overdraft fees from your bank, returned-
check fees from others and over-limit fees from your card issuer." His
recommendations: "Understand when your card company might not honor a
check. Consider calling your card company to verify your understanding
of its policies," Reynolds said. "In addition, you may want to call
your credit card company again after you deposit the check into your
bank and before you spend any of that money, to make sure the card
issuer has honored the check."
• Know the fees and the interest rate you'll pay. Expect to incur
a transaction fee of several percent of the amount of each check. If
the fee is five percent, you'd pay $50 to write a check for $1,000. In
addition, the interest rate on this loan to yourself can be much higher
than the rate on your card purchases, perhaps twice as high. Most
consumers believe that they will pay off the debt before the
introductory rate expires, but many find they can't. Also consider
that you may not be allowed an interest-free period to pay the loan
without interest accruing. "Most lenders will begin charging interest
when the check posts to your account, even if they otherwise give you
at least a couple of weeks to repay your credit card purchases
interest-free," said Irma Matias, an FDIC Community Affairs Specialist.

5. Even if you are offered a low interest rate initially, find out what
interest rate you will pay when the introductory period is over. And,
think twice about repeatedly transferring balances from one credit card
to another, because you could end up paying costly fees that more than
offset the attractive, promotional interest rate.
• Remember that there may be fewer consumer protections when making
purchases with convenience checks. When you use your credit card for
purchases, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the ability, under
certain circumstances, to withhold payment on defective goods until the
problem has been corrected. That protection doesn't exist with
convenience checks, even though they are related to your credit card
account. Also, with convenience checks, you may not receive any
rebates or points as you would using a credit card.
• Look for and shred convenience checks you don't plan to use.
"Dishonest friends, family members or workers around the house have
found convenience checks very convenient for getting a loan without
going through the hassle of asking," said David M. Nelson, a fraud
examiner in the FDIC's Financial Crimes Section. "Also remember that
thieves rummage through trash looking for valuable papers such as
convenience checks and bank statements, so do your best to shred these
documents before you toss them away.
• Consider asking your card issuer to stop mailing you convenience
checks if you're sure you don't want them. "This saves paper, avoids
the risk the checks might be stolen from your mailbox or home, and
helps discourage you from turning to the checks as an easy fix," said
Reynolds. "Convenience checks can be expensive and many consumers find
that they should be used sparingly, if at all."
Federal Deposit Insurance Cooperation (FDIC) offers Consumer Tips
At any age or stage in life, it's important to stay informed about ways
to save and protect your money. The Federal Deposit Insurance
Cooperation (FDIC) – a close partner with DoD for financial readiness
matters - recently announced that the agency has begun regularly
delivery of timely tips on money management on the agency's Web site
and through an e-mail subscription service. FDIC firmly believes in
helping people of all ages exercise their consumer rights.
<http://consumer.gov/ncpw/blog/>
"Consumer education is already a big part of what the FDIC does to
increase the public's knowledge of financial issues," said FDIC
Chairman Sheila C. Bair. "We believe this new service - delivering
simple, practical tips on an ongoing basis over the Internet - will
make it easier and more convenient for people to stay informed about
issues that may affect their financial decisions." Chairman Bair
added, "The FDIC also is proud to be one of the national organizers of
National Consumer Protection Week and to support this year's message
that we all can become knowledgeable and empowered consumers." The
tips are provided on a weekly basis as the FDIC "Consumer Tip of the
Week. "Topics range from saving and borrowing money to protecting
money with FDIC insurance and avoiding financial fraud. The FDIC's
"Consumer Tip of the Week" may be found at www.fdic.gov/consumertips.
Consumers, members of the media, financial educators and anyone else
interested in receiving the tips automatically in e-mails should
subscribe to the "Consumer Tip of the Week" using the e-mail update
link on this Web page. For more information about the FDIC's
educational programs and service for consumers, including a toll-free
Call Center, free videos and brochures, current and past issues of FDIC

6. Consumer News (including the Spring 2008 special edition entitled
"Money Tips for All Ages: Your Finances at Different Stages of Life"),
and the Money Smart financial education curriculum (one version for
adults and one for young adults), visit www.fdic.gov
<https://fastaccess.fdic.gov/,DanaInfo=www.fdic.gov+> or call 1-877-
ASK-FDIC
(1-877-275-3342). The FDIC also has added a special Web page about
National Consumer Protection Week at www.fdic.gov/ncpw
<https://fastaccess.fdic.gov/,DanaInfo=www.fdic.gov+ncpw> that
features quick links to several of the agency's products for consumers.
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Parenting Tip of the Week
Spring break is family time. You deserve a vacation free from hassles.
Plan ahead so your family getaway is enjoyable and fun for everyone.
Pack smart, drive safely, and eat healthy. Here are some tips from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
• Buckle up. On a road trip, everyone needs to be buckled in
securely. Child safety seats reduce the risk of death in passenger
cars by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4 years.
Seats should fit body size and be installed properly.
• Families that play together, stay together. Families should
develop their own system for staying together, particularly if they are
going into theme parks and other crowded areas. Parents can determine
a comfortable level of independence based on the age and maturity of
each child, but everyone should know what to do if separated from the
group. Caution your children about talking to strangers.
• Prevention can be travel-sized. A family vacation can turn into
a nightmare if someone gets sick. To handle such situations, pack
common medications, such as antibiotics, allergy tablets, first aid
supplies, and hand sanitizers. Insect repellent and anti-diarrheal
medicine are musts. Keep your pediatrician's phone number handy in case
of an emergency.
• Most importantly, relax and have a good time. Kids recognize when
parents are tense or nervous, so plan ahead to avoid problems. For
more Spring Break travel tips, please visit the CDC website at
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/FamilyTravel/
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Nutrition Tip of the Week
What's a serving of bread?
Make half your grains whole, but know your serving size. One serving
from the grain group is a one-ounce equivalent. In general that's one
regular slice of bread, " an English muffin, ½ a hotdog or hamburger
bun, or 1 "mini" bagel. A large "jumbo" bagel (about 4 ounces) counts
as 4 servings from the grain group. For more information on making
healthy and nutritious food choices, check out the Commissary’s website
at http://www.commissaries.com/ <http://www.commissaries.com/>
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Military Spouse Tip of the Week

7. Make Yourself at Home - If you’ve recently PCS’d, take a break from
unpacking and listen to audio tips from military spouse Jacey Eckhart.
After countless moves, she’s become a pro at turning military housing
into a home. Visit www.militaryonesource.com to access the audio
recordings.
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Getting support:
. Commanders can request support and resources from the Joint
Family Support Assistance Program by calling the Joint Family Resource
Center at 1-888-256-9920.
. Military OneSource:
This free 24-hour service, provided by the Department of Defense, is
available to all active duty, Guard, and Reserve members and their
families. Consultants provide information and make referrals on a wide
range of issues, including financial issues. You can reach the program
by telephone at 1-800-342-9647 or through the Web site at
www.militaryonesource.com .
Military OneSource (MOS) continues provide free tax filing services and
free tax consultations to military service members and their families
during the tax season. Visit the website or call the phone number
above for more information.
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Have a great week. Your MC&FP Team!