DoD to hold family support summit today

[unhappycamper]

DoD to hold family support summit today
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 20, 2008 6:41:41 EDT

Troops and family members are invited to join a live Oct. 20 Pentagon Webcast of a summit meeting that will explore the best ways to support families of service members who are killed, seriously wounded or who become ill or injured, as well as a new plan for coordinating treatment between local, state and federal agencies.

The day-long meeting of roughly 300 family members and participants from U.S. partner organizations and agencies, headlined as “Consistent Best Practices for Support of Families of Fallen and Wounded, Ill and Injured Service Members,” will be split into two sessions.

In the morning session, spouses of wounded, ill and injured troops will discuss their experiences with each phase of treatment — recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration. The afternoon session will focus on the needs of family members of fallen troops, in areas such as mortuary assistance, compensation and benefits.

The summit also aims to solicit feedback — webcast viewers can join the conversation via e-mail — on a new framework to ensure that treatment is seamlessly coordinated through each phase, said Lynda Davis, who leads the Pentagon’s senior oversight committee for case management reform for wounded, ill or injured troops.

“What everybody’s looking for is coordinated care that goes across the full continuum,” said Davis, recently appointed as the Pentagon’s deputy undersecretary for military, community and family policy. “We haven’t always done a great job of working with our veteran service and benefits organizations.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_familysummit_pentagon_101508w/%2e