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Deployment and Reunion Advisory Committee Discuss National Standards for Support

The members of the Canadian Forces (CF) Family Deployment and Reunion Advisory Committee recognize that maintaining a strong, deployment-ready CF depends on the resilience of families at home. To best support these families, the Advisory Committee has recommended that the Military Family Services Program (MFSP) adopt national standards for providing consistent, appropriate family support services throughout every stage of a loved one’s deployment.

The Advisory Committee gathered in Ottawa in October 2008 as a part of Director Military Family Services’ (DMFS) transformation initiative. They were tasked by the Chief Military Personnel to take the action plans outlined at the CF Family Services Summit in May 2008 and form them into recommendations for enhancing the MFSP’s deployment and reunion services.

The Advisory Committee’s central recommendation was that a broadened definition of family be used by the MFSP and all related Department of National Defence organizations to ensure that standardized resources are available for CF families of all shapes and sizes, in all locations. These national resources could provide a consistently high level of support to underrepresented groups such as CF members’ parents and extended families, reservists’ relatives and families living in remote locations.

“Working better together for families” was an important touchstone of the Advisory Committee as they worked on strategies for improving communication and strengthening partnerships. They recommended that deployment support service providers – including Canadian/Military Family Resource Centres, Deployment Support Groups, Chain of Command (CoC), rear parties and community partners – work more collaboratively to keep families informed of their various services and share best practices. The committee also recommended that a national database for family contact information could be developed to facilitate communication between service providers and families seeking support.

Enhancing community outreach and education campaigns was another recommendation raised by the committee. They would like to disseminate deployment support resources and information for families to CF members through the CoC and to the wider Canadian community through partnerships with local schools, organizations and media. They also explored ways to find a balance with news outlets so that media can keep the public informed about deployments and reunions while still respecting families’ privacy.