Better Together to Help Military Families
Last updated 9/16/2016 at 9:06am
On Sept. 8, leading officials will announce 'Better Together: A Military Public Private Partnership', aimed at helping military and veteran families.
Organized by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and recognized by both the Department of Defense and the White House's Joining Forces, Better Together will provide additional and improved services for the children of our nation's military families, both active duty and veterans, living in civilian communities.
Currently, more than 1.2 million American children have at least one parent serving in the military, and nearly 70 percent of them live off-installation away from critical health, academic and social services. These military youths face a set of unique challenges, as they usually have six to nine relocations before high school graduation, that can result in separation anxiety, depression and stress.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America currently serves 480,000 military youth, primarily on-installations. And through this partnership's 5-year high-impact approach, more than 250,000 military youth off-installation will also be provided with additional online resources and assessments, community-based outreach, professional development and training, as well as active public advocacy efforts on military youth issues – resulting in Boys & Girls Clubs of America serving 58% of military children in the United States.
Better Together will provide these children with the resources to reach their full potential and will work with entities like the National Guard, Reserve, Civil Air Patrol, Yellow Ribbon Program and USO to target where the need for support is greatest.
