Army Community Service Building

Implications of Relatives Raising Children While Parents are Deployed

Dr. Sandra Bailey of Montana State University is an Extension Specialist, and is Director of the Montana Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Project. Dr. Bailey’s research and expertise focuses on parenting in nontraditional family structures. She has conducted research on single-parent families, nonresidential parenting following divorce, international adoption, and grandparents raising grandchildren. Dr. Bailey has worked with grandparent caregivers and conducted research on their needs for the past 10 years. She has served as the Content Leader for the eXtension Family Caregiving Community of Practice Raising Grandchildren content area. Dr. Bailey has presented her research on grandparents raising grandchildren nationally and internationally. She and her colleagues have published journal articles, book chapters, and popular publications on the topic.

• When parents in the military are deployed they often look to grandparents to take over the day-to-day caregiving role for their children. This has become more common due to the number of active-duty women, single-parent families and dual-career families in the military. Parents and grandparents have numerous tasks to attend to prior to the deployment.

• This web conference will focus on logistical tasks that need to be addressed such as permissions for medical treatment and school enrollment; the challenges for grandparents who are parenting the second time around; alleviating stress and fears for the grandchildren; and departure and reunification processes that will help ease transitions.

• Please join the web conference here, https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/milfam by logging on a few minutes before 2 p.m. on April 5. No registration is required.

• To learn more about the Military Families Learning Network, visit: http://www.extension.org/pages/61399/personal-finance-military-families

Healing Hands

ACS Mobilization and Deployment Readiness Program supports Active Duty, Reserve Components, National Guard Units, Soldiers, Civilians and Family Members through the Deployment Process.

We offer:

Heart's Apart a Support Group for Waiting Families. Open to all branches of service to those Family Members who have a loved on Deployment, Extended TDY or Unaccompanied Tour. This group meets monthly. Friendship, Information, Education are a part of the monthly meeting. Please call (for additional information or to sign up for Heart's Apart.

Support and assistance to Unit Commander's in establishing Family Readiness Groups. Rear Detachment Commander training and support during the deployment cycle.

Upon request, ACS provides briefings and classes on key issues and steps when preparing for deployment and reintegration.

Training for new Family Readiness Groups.

Resource materials are available on Deployment, Coping with Separation, Children and Deployment, Returning Home, Communication and Strategies for Couples.