Running Head: THE ARMY’S FAMILY CARE PLAN 1

The Army’s Family Care Plan.

E. LeRoy Richards

The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

My future sister-in-law had asked me questions about a soldier that keeps dropping off her child

to her and the other neighbors saying that she needs them to watch her. They felt it might be

abuse or neglect but were not sure who they should call the Military Police, local authorities, or

Child Protective Services. The Soldier was single which made her applicable to The Army

Family Care Plan standards and procedures. This can also bring light to other civilians in the

community if they see instances of the same thing happening in their neighborhoods. This paper

aims to bring an understanding to enlighten those not familiar with why, who, and what are some

of the consequences if the procedures are not adhered to in a timely manner or not properly

maintained. Starting from the all government and military personnel all have their own required

duties to implement and support all policies and procedures of the Family Care Plan. These

programs are considered directives and must be followed without bias. The steps required to

process, maintain, and test family care plans are clearly outlined in the Army Regulation’s as

well as the step to eliminate personnel who fail to comply.

Keywords: Executive Order (EO), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of

Defense Instruction (DoDI), Army Regulation (AR), Command Policy, Family Care Plan (FCP),

Service Member(s), Commander (CMD).

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The Army’s Family Care Plan.

The Army Family Care Plan was mandated as a program policy when President Regan

(1987) signed the Family Executive Order (EO) 12606 on September 2, 1987. As President

Regan asserted, “The autonomy and rights of the family are considered in the formulation and

implementation of policies.” (para. 1). This paved the way for the government officials to create

and mandate programs, policies to support, and protect all family members of federal employee

personnel. The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness [USD(P&R)] Mr.

Conaton, E.C. has the initial responsibilities as outlined in DoDI 1342.22 Military Family

Readiness (2017) that they shall: “Coordinate programs and activities of the Military

Departments to the extent that they relate to military families. Make recommendations to the

Secretaries of the Military Departments with respect to programs and policies regarding military

families.” (encl. 2, para. 1c1&c2). Although simple in their scope, these guidelines have a great

impact on the personnel that they are intended to supervise. The Instruction manual (Military

Family Readiness) explains in detail all of the responsibilities for the USD(P&R) and all

government officials responsibilities as directed and derived from the USD(P&R) DoD Directive

5124.02. It provides Policy requirements for the DoD Personnel and their families, in addition to

directing the purpose and applicability to all personnel at all levels of the DOD and its affiliates.

The EO, DoDI’s, and AR’s put into place brings into question if the Army Family Care Plan, is it

a necessary policy and program or does it need to be rescinded?

In the DoDI 1342.19 ch1, “Instruction manual for Family Care Plans,” explains the

responsibilities for the Department of Defense (DoD) Components and Secretaries of the

Military Departments with more detail on their specific instructions. Their responsibilities are

derived by the DoDI 1342.22 duties of responsibilities for their positions. The DoDI 1342.19
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ch1 (2017) manual provides policy instructions “by establishing policy, assigns responsibilities,

and procedures of care for military family members of single parents, dual-member couples,

married custody or joint custody, or if they are primarily responsible of a family members” (para

1b1.-4.). Provides applicability to all personnel at all levels of the DoD Components per

enclosure 3 and explicate instructions under the “POLICY” (para 4).

The DoDI resulted in the creation of Army Regulation (AR) 600-20 “Army Command

Policy,” Para 5-5, gives requirements for a Family Care Plan (FCP). AR 600-20, is the overall

regulation used for the guidance of responsibilities, directions, and instructions on numerous

subjects providing guidance and direction for command policies. In Chapter 5, “Other

Responsibilities of Command”, paragraph 5 provides detailed instructions on the FCP ranging

from the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1 (DCS, G-1) to the individual service member. Per AR 600-

20 Commanders at all levels have the authority to enforce all regulations, policies, and

procedures in support of the EO and DODI regarding FCP’s. Not all personnel in the military

are required to maintain a family care plan. As the AR stipulates (2014):

“A Soldier who has no spouse; is divorced, widowed, or separated, or is

residing apart from his or her spouse; who has joint or full legal and
physical custody of one or more Family members under the age of 19; or
who has adult Family members incapable of self-care regardless of age”
(para. 5-5b(2)).

Thus, the AR provides an overview of who is required to be enrolled in the program, albeit there

is always an exception to the rule. Moreover, the policy provides the necessary steps, paper

work, time frames to counsel, and deadlines to process the paper work. The AR has guidance for

the Commander and Service members if they find difficulty gathering the required documents,
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while allowing for extensions to the time frames and deadlines. It explains consequences by way

of the counseling forms if the program is not completed by program members. Additionally,

Chapter 5 provides methods on how to check if the Family care plans are current, working

properly, and directives on recertifying the plans in their company(s).

Chapter Name FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16

Chapter 5 (Convenience of Gov't) Parenthood 339 257 197 174 171
Chapter 6 (Dependency or Hardship) Parenthood 6 6 3 4 8
Figure 1: Personnel eliminated from the Army for failure to maintain a Family Care Plan during Fiscal Years (FY). Rice, C. (2016). Army Family Care Plan

Policy. Headquarters, Department of the Army G-1. Retrieved from

http://dacowits.defense.gov/Portals/48/Documents/General%20Documents/RFI%20Docs/Dec2016/USA%20RFI%207.pdf?ver=2016-12-04-233103-367

Lieutenant Colonel Rice’s presentation’s “Chapter statistics”, provides a basic overview of the

policy that Commanders at all levels can use as a briefing tool to assist in improving the

program’s process to reduce separations from the military (See Figure 1). The presentation was

designed to brief and allow Commanders at all levels to provide training to their leaders,

subordinates, and personnel in their unit that need to complete a FCP. It is the statistics for those

who have been separated from active military service that is the important part of the

presentation. There are also guidelines from DoDI 1342-19 and AR 600-20 for Commanders and

personnel to follow that will be in the program. At least in the military, there is always an

exception to the “rule”, and that can be an extension to deadlines or a Commander weighing the

decision to “chapter” them from service.

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Commanders can give processing deadline extensions to personnel that are having

difficulties acquiring necessary documentation as required. Albeit, personnel that meet certain

requirements can automatically receive an exemption waiver for their duty as outlined in DoDI

1342-19 with change 1 (2017):

“Military mothers of newborns shall receive a 4-month deferment from

duty away from the home station for the period immediately following
the birth of a child. Single Service members who adopt, or one member
of a dual-military couple who adopts, shall receive a 4-month deferment
from duty away from the home station from the date the child is placed
in the home as a part of the formal adoption process.” (para. 4g(1)&(2)).

These exemptions are beneficial to the family because, it allows service members to spend time

with their newborns and Commanders can still give them an extension to AR 600-20 guidelines

if necessary later. AR 635-200 “Active Duty Enlisted Administrations Separations”, Para 5-8,

cover the separation procedures for personnel that fail to meet or maintain an adequate and up to

date plan. AR 635-200 (2016) also details the majority of different types of separation actions

that can be used by Commanders to discharge personnel from active duty service. Chapter 5,

“Separations for Convenience of the Government,” explains the scope, characterization,

description, and who has the authority to request or sign separations. Family care plans are

covered under section III, paragraph 5-8 “Involuntary separation due to parenthood,” it organizes

specific justification’s a Commander can use to separate a service member from active duty if:

“parental obligations interfere with military duties.” (Para 5-8a). Soldiers that fail to comply

with their obligations to their family can receive administrative punishment or discharge. AR

600-20 (2014), allow commands to do the following:

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“Should consider initiating a bar to reenlistment against Soldiers who

fail to properly manage personal, marital, or Family affairs, or who fail
to provide or maintain adequate Family care plans. Should consider
initiating involuntary separation proceedings against Soldiers who fail to
provide and maintain adequate Family care plans.” (Para 5-5g11&g12).

Thus, directly or indirectly failing to maintain or comply with these regulations has

consequences that could negatively affect the family as a whole, not just the service member.

Separating a service member from the Army is not good for the morale of a company, despite the

military will replace the person. Both AR’s contribute to the procedures for separating

personnel, how to notify the service member of the procedures, and which chapter and/or

paragraph Commander’s use as authority to proceed with the separation actions.

Family Care Plans (FCP) can be very beneficial to both the military and families alike.

As described in AR 600-20 (2014):

“The Army assists the Soldier in providing for the care of his or her
Family members. Mission, readiness, and deployability needs especially
as it affects AA,… Plans must be made to ensure Family members are
properly and adequately cared for when the Soldier is deployed, on
TDY, or otherwise not available due to military requirements.” (para. 5-
5a(1)).

This ensures the program is following the EO 12606 directive and other DoDI requirements.

The bottom line for the FCP is to protect the families and their welfare. Simultaneously, unit

command and service members are also the responsibility of the Unit’s Commander as well as

the service members with family in their charge or care for life support. During times of

deployment, the Soldier’s, families, and companies experience stressful times. Just knowing that
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your loved ones are being properly cared for in their absence can improve the morale its

personnel, in addition to the families that are left at home. Waiting for the time to pass is

stressful enough, but if the families are experiencing unforeseen hardships from financial or

improper caregivers, maintaining the children’s daily routines add unneeded, unnecessary, and

resolvable hardships.

In Goodman’s et al. (2013) “Deployment of military mothers: Supportive and

nonsupportive military programs, processes, and policies” discusses the role and importance of

military supportive and non-supportive resources. This article provides research findings of

women personnel that have deployed serving in the military. The authors discuss a minimum of

supportive and non-supportive resources as described by the persons interviewed for the

research. It does talk about the FCP as non-supportive for not facilitating deployments because

the care plan is incomplete. As some mothers were quoted, “in that the information does not

provide evidence of a safe and effective care plan for the children.” (p 731). Some of the

participants felt the care plans caused issues since the majority of women surveyed found it hard

to find adequate caregivers. They did believe in the policy and that it is there to serve the

Military and the Family members both equally, which is the care of the children while the

companies had to deploy or conduct mission-related operations. Military commands have started

to incorporate FCP workshops to assist personnel and families understand the importance of

family care plans as illustrated (See Figure 2).

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Figure 2: Family Care Plan workshop schedule flyer. Per the MCCS website (2018) “Family Care Plan is an essential part of military readiness, as it

provides care for those who depend on their Marine. Having a Family Care Plan in place helps Marines focus on their job and mission during deployment,

mobilization, training, or other times when duty calls.” MCCS, MCAS Cherry Point website (2017). Retrieved from

https://mccscherrypoint.com/event/family-care-plan/2017-11-01/
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This community problem report discussion has begun with a simple question: “The Army

Family Care Plan, is it a necessary policy and program or does it need to be rescinded?”. It all

started with an idea from the President of the United States wanting to have policies in place to

protect the families of all government personnel. Government agencies created policies with

responsibilities to support the Executive Order to provide outlined guidance to make the Family

Care Plan program(s) as seamlessly as possible. These procedures and steps derived from a

simple problem that incorporated an outcome-based policy to care for and protect families during

times of crisis government personnel might have to endure. The policies, instructions, and

regulations are constantly being revised with updated to ensure, those affected or mandated to

follow them, have their voices or concerns heard. Individual agencies have incorporated

workshops to assist service members and families in the program process while providing them a

clear understanding of why the program is considered important. With a combined effort by the

Commanders and service members with one goal in mind, the Army Family Care Plan can be

successful for both sides to benefit. Statistics show that a minute number of personnel have been

eliminated from active duty between FY12 to FY17. This should indicate that the program is

successful and not be rescinded.

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References

Conaton, E.C. (2017). Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) number 1342.22, Military

Family Readiness. Executive Services Directorate. Retrieved from

http://www.esd.whs.mil/Directives/issuances/dodi/.

Goodman, P. Turner, A. Agazio, J. Throop, M. Padden, D. Greiner, S. et al. (2013). Deployment

of military mothers: Supportive and nonsupportive military programs, processes, and

policies. Military Medicine, 178(7), 729-734. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00460

MCCS Cherry Point (2018). Family Care Plan. Recurring Events Nov. 2017. Retrieved from

https://mccscherrypoint.com/event/family-care-plan/2017-11-01/.

O’Keefe, G.B. Odierno, R.T. (2014). Army Command Policy Army Regulation (AR) 600-20.

Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army and General USA Chief of Staff,

Headquarters, Department of the Army. Washington, DC. Retrieved from

https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/AR.aspx.

O’Keefe, G.B. Milley, M.A. (2016). Active Duty Enlisted Administrative Separations AR 635-

200. Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army and General USA Chief of

Staff, Headquarters, Department of the Army. Washington, DC. Retrieved from

https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/AR.aspx.

Reagan, R. (1987). Executive Order (EO) 12606 The Family. The White House. Retrieved from

https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/archives/speeches/1987/090287b.htm.

Rice, C. (2016). Army Family Care Plan Policy. Headquarters, Department of the Army G-1.

Retrieved from

http://dacowits.defense.gov/Portals/48/Documents/General%20Documents/RFI%20Docs/

Dec2016/USA%20RFI%207.pdf?ver=2016-12-04-23.
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3103-367

Stanley, C., (2017). DoDI number 1342.19 ch1, Family Care Plans. Executive Services

Directorate. Retrieved from http://www.esd.whs.mil/Directives/issuances/dodi/.