The need has never been more crucial for community health providers, programs, and organizations to have access to training in addressing the unique behavioral health challenges facing our veterans, active duty military, and their families. Handbook of Military Social Work is edited by renowned leaders in the field, with contributions from social work professionals drawing from their wealth of experience working with veterans, active duty military, and their families. Handbook of Military Social Work considers: Military culture and diversity Women in the military Posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans Traumatic brain injury in the military Suicide in the military Homelessness among veterans Cycles of deployment and family well-being Grief, loss, and bereavement in military families Interventions for military children and youth Offering thoughtful advice covering the spectrum of issues encountered by mental health professionals working with individuals and families, Handbook of Military Social Work will contribute to the improvement of efforts to help our military personnel, veterans, and their families deal with the challenges they face.

This new and comprehensive book will give you exactly what you need to understand and comply with the law. It provides an overview of the provisions for the new Bankruptcy Reform Act including new sanctions provisions in Chapter 7 cases; regulation of attorneys as debt relief agencies; heightened requirements for reaffirmation agreements.

This book examines the politics of military families in relation to the tensions between the state, military organization, and private life. It elaborates on the tensions between the advent of challenging worldwide deployment for the military and the prominence of the home front. The volume aims to understand the dynamics of conflict and change within triad figurations at the macro (society), meso (organizational), and micro (family) level and is guided by the following overarching research questions: What are the key issues in the three-party dynamics? What tensions exist in these dynamics? How do actors seek to arrive at a balance? What initiatives for change are made? With contributions from international scholars, who examine the workings of politics in military families at all three levels, the book argues that members within military families deal with shifting power balances and these are impacted by demands from organizations and the state. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, sociology, organizational studies and politics.

Offers advice to families in the military who are raising a child with special needs, covering such topics as diagnoses, financial support, education, medical care, case management, insurance, and advocacy.

Military families face stressful times that are unique to the military lifestyle. One of the most challenging situations, both for children and parents, is when a father, mother, or sibling is deployed for military service and must be away from the home. Children often experience sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, and loneliness, and they do not understand their own feelings or know how to express them. This book is designed to help children especially, but also their parents, during such difficult times. Based on many years of experience as a social worker, who has assisted military families experiencing stress, author Beth Andrews has created an excellent tool for allowing children and their loved ones to deal with the many emotions caused by deployment. The text and illustrations encourage children to discuss their feelings and to draw their own pictures to express themselves. The accompanying parents'' guide is designed to validate parents'' feelings and give them ways to help their children cope. Guided by this approach, a parent or caregiver can help their children understand why one of their parents or a sibling had to leave home, identify their reactions, cope with their feelings in a positive way, be assured that they are not alone, and try new activities to help themselves adjust. At a time when military families are asked to make many sacrifices in the service of their country, this reassuring book will be a welcome resource.

This unique reference integrates knowledge culled from fifteen years of U.S. deployments to create an action plan for supporting military and veteran families during future conflicts. Its innovative ideas stretch beyond designated governmental agencies (e.g., Department of Defense, VA) to include participation from, and possible collaborations with, the business/corporate, academic, advocacy, and philanthropic sectors. Contributors identify ongoing and emerging issues affecting military and veteran families and recommend specific strategies toward expanding and enhancing current programs and policy. This proactive agenda also outlines new directions for mobilizing the research community, featuring strategies for addressing institutional challenges and improving access to critical data. Included in the coverage: Lessons learned inside the Pentagon. Merging reintegration streams for veterans and military families. The unique role of professional associations in assisting military families: a case study. Philanthropy for military and veteran families: challenges past, recommendations for tomorrow. Rules of engagement: media coverage of military families during war. Designing and implementing strategic research studies to support military families. A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families is of immediate usefulness to leaders, professionals, and future professionals in interdisciplinary academic, governmental, advocacy, and philanthropic areas of focus interested in the theoretical, practical, and real-life concerns and needs of military-affiliated families.

Care of Military Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families serves a critical need, which has been highlighted by recent reported rates of combat-related stress disorders and traumatic brain injury, as well as increases in suicide rates among service members and veterans over the past decade and the distress and challenges faced by their children and families. More than 2.5 million Americans currently serve in the U.S. military on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard, and more than 20 million civilians are veterans. Although patients are viewed here in the context of military service, they seek health care in military, veteran, and civilian settings, and their mental health concerns are as diverse as those encountered in the civilian population. This book is designed for clinicians in all care settings and provides thorough coverage of U.S. military structures and cultures across the armed services, as well as detailed material on the particular mental health challenges faced by service members and their families. A full overview of the military lifestyle is provided, including the life cycle of the military (recruitment to retirement), service subcultures (Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, and Reserve and Guard components), challenges of military life for service members and families (moves, deployments, etc.), and military mental health. Material on military culture provides insight for practitioners who may not be familiar with this population. The book focuses on collaborative care, particularly between the military health care system and the Veterans Administration, providing clinicians with strategies to mitigate stigma and other barriers to care through mental health service delivery in primary care settings. The incidence of traumatic brain injury among service members has increased because of the use of improvised explosive devices, and an entire chapter is devoted to diagnosing and treating these injuries as well as educating patients and their families on the condition. The families of service members face significant challenges, and several chapters are devoted to the needs of military children, the families of ill and injured service members and veterans, deployment-related care, and caring for the bereaved. The book's comprehensive review of resources available to military service members, veterans, and families both ensures high-quality care and reduces the workload for treating physicians. Care of Military Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families is an authoritative and much-needed addition to the mental health literature.