EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 1

EFMP NewsYour free guide to EFMP services, entertainment and educational opportunities on Joint Base Lewis-McChord

FREE

Exceptional Family Member Program January 2016

Upcoming Events Pages 2-3

Community Support GroupsPage 7

Legislative ChangesPages 4-5

Happy 2016!

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 2

In this issue:

Armed Forces Community Service (AFCS)Director: Alecia R. Grady

Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)

2140 Liggett Ave., Waller Hall, Rm. 400JBLM-Lewis Main

usarmy.jblm.imcom.list.dfmwr-acs-exceptional-family-member@mail.mil

EFMP Program Manager: Mary Herrera253-967-9704

EFMP Staff Members:

Upcoming Events, pg. 2-3

Legislative Changes, pg. 4-5

EFMP Survey, pg. 6

Birth-to-Three Services, pg. 7

Community Support Groups, pg. 7

EFMP Enrollment Process, pg. 7

Resources at your fingertips, pg. 8

Nancy Dozier: 253-967-3464Carol Watrous: 253-967-9705Cheryl Hoyson: 253-967-5795Megan O’Day: 253-967-9097Lynn Shick: 253-967-3451Anthony Buggage: 253-982-2695

The EFMP office has an open-door policy regarding assistance to our Families. Please feel free to contact us if you have any ques-tions about available services, concerns, or if you need resources or advocacy at Joint Base Lewis-McChord or in the civilian community.

January Events...JBLM EFMP Family Friendly Movie Jan. 16, 12-2:00 p.m., “Hotel Transylvania 2!” at the McChord Theater. FREE. Sensory controlled environment. Perfect for special needs and young viewers. All children must be accompanied by an adult. No food or drinks are allowed in the theater. For more information contact 253-982-2695.

Play to Learn (Free) Collaborative playgroups for family and children under 6 on Wednesdays. Two locations: McChord Field Escape Zone 10-1130 a.m. and Raindrops & Rainbows Lewis North at 1:30-3 p.m.

SKIES Registration Parent Central Services, Lewis Main and McChord Field to register for February SKIES classes. Registration for classes is the first through the 4th Friday of the previous month. For a description of classes or to register your child, go to JBLMmwr.com and click on the yellow WebTrac button.

Special Olympics Swimming and Track & Field, Ages 8-18 Sign-ups will occur in Feb.-Mar. For information, contact Youth Sports 253-967-2405 or visit Bldg.. 2295 S 12th St., Lewis Main.

Hands-On Children’s Museum Located in Olympia, has free admittance Friday Jan 8 with theme “Around the World”. Call 360-956-0818. Free and reduced classes are offered every 2nd Tue. of each month from 6-8 p.m.

Jan. 5 Candyce Bollinger will present “Positive Parent-Child Communication.” The cost is $25 per family (up to 2 adults and 4 children).

Jan. 12 Power Parenting will present “Talking Back, Acting Out: Behaviors We Love to Hate.”

Call 360-956-0818 x 103, www.hocm.org, for more information.

Exceptional Families NetworkJan. 9, 11:00 a.m. workshop “Did You Know?” Education advocacy questions answered

Jan. 9, 2:00 p.m. workshop “What to Expect” IEP information

Jan. 23, 6:00-10:00 p.m. “Mom’s Night of Pampering”. www.exceptionalfamilies.org (click on EVENTS to RSVP)

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 3

AFCS Resiliency Training Jan. 11-14, 9:00-2:30. Learn about resiliency competencies such as mental agility, self-awareness, self-regulation and optimism. Free child care is available (call CYSS at 253-966-2977). Registration required. Register at jblmafcs.checkappointments.com. Call 253-967-3971 for more information.

Spouses Out on the Town New to JBLM? Visit Tacoma and Olympia. There are various pick-up points, and hourly child care is available. Register at jblmafcs.checkappointments.com or call 253-967-3633.

Penn State Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) TeleConsult Program A consulting team of mental health and educational professionals and researchers provides free information to anyone who has questions about ASD, behavior intervention, and/or how to advocate for a child who is on the autism spectrum. Visit teleconsult.militaryfamilies.psu.edu to learn more about this program.

EFMP News is an authorized unofficial community information source published for members of the Joint Base Lewis-Mc-Chord EFMP community. There is no U.S. government endorsement of any commer-cial sponsor. Editorial content is provided by Exceptional Family Member Program, Armed Forces Community Service, and Family & Morale Welfare and Recreation offices. Submissions are welcome but will be edited for accuracy, brevity, clarity and journalistic style. Submissions are due on the first day of the month, one month prior to publication date. EFMP News is published monthly. Circulation: 1000. Send submissions to: Mary.K.Herrera.civ@mail.mil

Policy:We encourage letters to the editor, but they must be signed. We will consider withhold-ing the name of the author upon request. Letters regarding an issue should contrib-ute to informational interest.

We reserve the right to edit all material for style, to fit available space, to resolve libel, force protection and grammar.

Although the information in the issue is current at time of publication, activities and events are subject to change. Please contact the activity for confirmation.

Join us on FACEBOOK! Connect with other EFMP News readers on Facebook and get regular updates on our program.

www.facebook.com/efmpjblm

January Events...ChildReach Program Closed The ChildReach program closed at the end of December and developmental screening appointments are no longer available.

Suggested options for screenings are: Pierce County Birth to Three at 253-798-3790; your local school district’s Child Find program; and/or healthcare providers. The website www.parenthelp123.org has additional developmental information and resources listed.

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 4

Nov. 25 2015 the President signed the National De-

fense Authorization Act:

Authorizes appropriations for FY2016 for military activi-

ties of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths, military ben-efits, and for other purposes (ap-proximately 1000 pages long). For full text of the Act, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1356/text

Highlights specifically relevant to EFMs:

Health Care:

*Modifies cost-sharing requirements for the TRI-

CARE pharmacy benefits program. Medications that were $8 increase to $10, $20 increase to $24, $16 increase to $20, $46 increase to $49. Recommend exploring Tricare mail order option.

*Requires DOD to establish and ensure that TRICARE Prime

beneficiaries obtain health care ap-pointments within health care access standards for primary and specialty

care. Requires DOD to publish the health care access standards in the Federal Register and on a publicly accessible DOD web site by June.

*Requires DOD to publish data on measures used to assess

patient safety, quality of care, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes for health care provided under the TRICARE program at each mili-tary medical treatment facility on a publicly available DOD website by June. Establishes criteria under which licensed mental health coun-selors (masters degree or doctoral degree in counseling from a pro-gram accredited by the Council for

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 5

Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) may be reimbursed under the TRICARE program.

*Requires DOD to carry out and report to Congress on a 3 year

pilot program starting in June, to allow covered Tricare beneficiaries to access urgent care visits without requiring pre-authorization for the visits.

Education:

*Authorizes $25,000,000 for the purpose of provid-

ing assistance to local educational agencies impacted by enrollment

of dependent children of military members and DOD civilian employ-ees. Please note these are additional grants offered to public schools sup-porting military installations. Ap-propriations give DoDEA the funds to administer the grants. The grant focus for this year has not been identified. In previous years, some school districts in this area have applied for and received awards. School District Grant Administra-tors may contact *Department of Defense Educational Activity (Do-DEA) which Authorizes $5,000,000 for Impact Aid payments to local educational agencies that benefit eli-

gible dependents with severe dis-abilities. Please note, Impact Aid payments are provided to schools that apply and that have provided education to military dependents two years prior. Impact Aid pay-ments are not additional payments to the schools but are in lieu of absent property taxes for military, Native Americans, and those liv-ing in section 8 housing.

Advocacy Days with the ARC of WA: Opportunity to speak with state legislators regarding EFM fami-lies’ needs:

Jan. 27: Learn about new Medicaid waiver

Mar. 2: Supported employment for those with disabilities http://arcwa.org/in…/takeaction/washington-state/advocacy_day

Training (Free) Tuesday Feb. 9, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. by WA De-velopmental Disabilities Associa-tion: Specific strategies to support Persons on the Autism Spectrum and their Families

Register: email (melody.erickson@dshs.wa.gov), WA DDA Office: 6860 Capitol Blvd., Tumwater, WA

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 6

Please take a few minutes to tell us about your most recent experience with the EFMP.

To take a brief survey, visit: cornell.qumwaltrics.com/SE/?S=SV_063s4lRFiVKOcwR

This EFMP customer survey has been approved by the Department of Defense DD-P&R(AR)2534

We’d appreciate your feedback!

The ABLE Act, federal legislation https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/06/22/2015-15280/guidance-under-section-529a-qualified-able-programs was passed Dec. 2014, provides 529A tax-free financial growth plans for children and adults with disabilities that do not impact their federal and state benefits such as Social Security and Medicaid. This is specific to disabilities which are not military-connected and should not be con-

fused with the Disabled Military Protection Act passed federally at the same time. States must adopt this legislation into their code of law for it to be available. Thirty-four states have made it to this point so far. Washington is one of them. States, like Washington, are now in the phase of developing implemen-tation plans. Washington has an established state-level work group for oversight of this implementation. Updates from the work group are

provided at http://www.tre.wa.gov/news/ableWorkgroup.shtml. In June 2015 the IRS provided states guid-ance on the implementation, and be-cause of your voices they just issued revised guidance to the states. This is available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-15-81.pdf. One of the revisions is not having to submit documentation of the disability up front since it is only needed in the event of an audit. The ABLE Act is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2016 in Washington.

The ABLE Act

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 7

EFMP Enrollment Process

Birth To Three Early Intervention Programs

Contact the Lead Agency for your county for a referral for services. Community Connections Early Intervention Service/Pierce Co.: 253-798-3790South Sound Parent To Parent/Thurston County: 360-352-1126Holly Ridge Center/Kitsap and Mason Counties: 360-373-2536Community Health Access Program (CHAP)/King County: 206-284-0331

If your Family member has a health condi-tion that necessitates a specialist or spe-cialty clinic, he or she MUST be enrolled in EFMP under medical, DD Form 2792. If your child has an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or 504 plan, he or she must be enrolled in EFMP under educa-tion, DD Form 2792-1. Enrollment forms for EFMP are renewed every three years or sooner, if there are significant changes.

Disenrollment is not automatic upon expi-ration; it is required for a change in marital status or a significant improvement that no longer warrants enrollment.

Army — Submit your completed enroll-ment forms to the EFMP office located in the Madigan Nursing Tower, on the first floor, left side, just past the chapel, room 1-28-17. For questions regarding enroll-ment or overseas screenings, please call 253-968-0254/1370/4355. This office is closed on Thursdays.

Air Force — Submit your completed enrollment forms to the SNC office 62nd Medical Clinic, first floor of Airman’s Clinic Bioenvironmental hallway, second/third office on left. For a PCS screening or for questions call TSGT Michelle Sutton at 253-982-3350. Lois Fisher is the Special Needs Coordinator at 253-982-5568. Open Monday, Tuesday, Friday 0800-1530; Wednesday 0800-1100. Closed 2nd Tues-day 1200 – 1530; Closed on Thursday. For Air Force Respite Care, contact AFCS-McChord at 253-982-2695.

EFMP Family Support Services 2140 Liggett Ave., Waller Hall, Room 400, JBLM-Lewis Main; 552 Barnes Blvd., AFCS McChord, JBLM-McChord Field.

Installation and local resources and ser-vices, housing and school issues, IEP/504 plans, respite care, systems navigation, advocacy, support groups, monthly newsletter, disability services and Special Needs Accommodation Process are avail-able for all Army and Air Force EFMP families.

Exceptional Families Network offers the following support groups and events in Pierce County. For more information or to RSVP contact www.exceptionalfamilies.org/events.html. Text EFN to 22828 to join mailing list. Events include:SFPS Tacoma for families with special needs, 2nd Thur., 6-8 p.m., Children’s Museum of Tacoma, 1501 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. SFPS Olympia for families with special needs, 1st Tue., 6-8 p.m., Olympia Timberland Library.Coffee & Chat, 2nd Mon., 10 a.m.Family Movie and Game Night, 3rd Fri., 6:30 p.m. Games for everyone, kid-friendly movie, and popcorn by donation.Curiosity Club with Stacy, 2nd Sat., 1 p.m. Kids (ages 2-8) will make a creation and receive a book of the month. Park Play Date, 3rd Sat., 10 a.m. Weather permitting, let’s get outside and have some fun! RSVP required.Getting Loopy Yarn Club, 3rd Sun., 2 p.m. Learn how to knit/crochet or to improve. Supplies available; all ages welcome.B.B.C. Sci-Fi Appreciation Club, 3rd Sun., 3 p.m. Bow-ties, Browncoats & Changelings! Discuss Doctor Who & all things geektastic.

Parent Advisory Council, 4th Tue., 6:30 p.m. Lend your voice, ideas & input about our nonprofit’s services, events & more. Words & Whine Book Club, Last Fri., 7 p.m. Discuss our current book selection and chat with other parents. PAVE (Partnerships for Action. Voices for Empowerment.), PAVE has various support groups meet-ings and activities throughout the month. Contact Susan Jackson at 253-565-2266 or sjackson@wapave.org for information. www.wapave.org. CIP, Community Inclusion Program of Pierce County, Three monthly meetings in various Pierce County locations.Down Syndrome Moms Night Out Support Group, 2nd Fri. of the month, 6:30 p.m.Pierce County Parent to Parent Spanish Speaking Support Group, 1st Tue. of the month, 6-8 p.m.PURPAS, Support group for young adults with high functioning autism and their families. Meetings several times a month. SOS, Siblings Outside the Spectrum, Support group for teens who have a brother or sister with Autism, meets monthly.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUPS

EFMP News • January 2016 2140 Liggett Ave., Room 400 253-967-9704/9705 8

Resources

Individuals With Disabilities

Acommonvoice.org (Counseling)Addresources.org (ADD/ADHD)Autismsocietyofwa.org (Autism)Autismspeaks.org (Autism)Biorxhemophilia.com (Bleeding disorders)Exceptional-families.org (SN Support Group)Featwa.org (Autism)Gluten.net (Gluten Intolerance Group)Hsdc.org (Hearing Speech and Deafness Center)Pc2online.org (PC2 for Developmental Dis-abilities)Piercecountywa.org/companionship (Pierce County Parks & Recreation)Stompproject.org (Specialized Training for Military Parents)TACID.org (Dialition of Individuals with Disabilities) Tbiwashington.org (Traumatic Brain Injury of Washington)Thecpnetwork.org (Cerebral Palsy)Wapave.com (Support Groups & Advocacy)Wrightslaw.com (Special Education & Ad-vocacy)

Family AssistanceCdc.gov/ncbddd/index.html (National Center on Birth Defects and Developmen-tal Disabilities (NCBDDD))

Efoodnet.org (Pierce County Food Banks)

Metroparkstacoma.org/specialized

MilitaryOneSource.mil

MyTricare.com (Tricare)

Ssa.gov (Social Security)

Uhcmilitarywest.com (Tricare Western Region)

Children’s ServicesNaccrra.org/military-families (ChildCare Aware of America)

Nmfa.org (National Military FamilyFamily Association)

Psesd.org (Puget Sound Educational Service District)

Ssp2p.org (South Sound Parent2Parent)

FacebookFacebook.com/efmpjblm

Facebook.com/JBLMFamilyMWR

Facebook.com/JBLMcyss

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