New Resource Helps Military Families Thrive

Being a parent is not an easy job and comes with daily challenges. Thankfully, families can access sources that provide information on best practices to make parenting easier and help strengthen the parent-child bond. 

Through a collaboration between the Department of Defense’s Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy (DoD MC&FP) and the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State, military families can use Thrive Initiative resources.    

The Thrive Initiative focuses on nurturing the parent-child relationship to foster community youth development and resilience. It emphasizes positive parenting practices, stress management, and promoting child physical health. Thrive has a training program for you no matter the age of your child or children.  

Key goals include: 

• Strengthening positive parenting skills. 

• Teaching stress management strategies. 

• Promoting healthy lifestyles. 

Recently, Thrive expanded its content to include modules on adolescent mental health, exceptional families, and neurodiversity and autism just to name a few. Short videos cover topics such as positive parenting, listening to your baby, and communicating with adolescents and teens.  

Raising children is challenging, but there are helpful online resources to support you. Empower yourself and your family to flourish by taking the Thrive training for parents. Check out Thrive today at https://thrive.psu.edu/. 

EFMP and Me 

EFMP and Me is another resource designed to assist military families in exploring the vast networks of services and support the DoD has to offer. This tool lets you choose from a variety of categories that fit your life needs, such as:  

• Childcare 

• EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program) 

• Education  

• Medical  

• PCS (Permanent Change of Station) 

• Family and Community Life  

• Transitions and More 

EFMP and Me can be used on any computer or mobile device. With information at your fingertips, you are never far from resources to get you through every milestone.  

For more information on needs assessments and services planning, connect with your local EFMP Family Caseworker.