Assessing the Needs of Military-Connected Children and Resources to Address Those Needs

Issue

There is a growing concern around the mental and behavioral health of children and youth as conditions like anxiety disorders, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders affect almost one in five children and youth ages 3 to 17. The coronavirus pandemic brought many challenges: Children missed years of in-person schooling and socialization, experienced increased social isolation, and developed an overreliance on technology and social media to stay connected, entertained, and participate in online schooling. Collectively, studies suggest that children and youth have experienced, and will continue to experience, a wide variety of mental and behavioral health concerns that can affect their academic performance, social interactions, well-being, and overall quality of life.

In addition to the general stresses and strains in the lives of children and youth, military-connected children and youth face distinct challenges—such as family separation, frequent moves, and military life—that can directly or indirectly affect children's mental health and exacerbate an already stressful time in their development. To help inform their ongoing commitment to military-connected children and youth, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (ODASD) for Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP) asked RAND to assess the needs of military-connected children in the context of military child development centers (CDCs), military youth programs (YPs), and schools with a significant military child population. This study provides findings from this needs assessment, which sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the prevalence of child and youth mental and behavioral health needs across locations?
2. Are schools and child and youth programs (CYPs)—including CDCs, YPs, and school-age care (SAC) programs—equipped to handle these current and emerging needs?
3. Where are there gaps in services and opportunities to better meet the diverse needs of military-connected children in CYPs and schools?

Approach

In 2022, we conducted a mixed-methods needs assessment that consisted of (1) an online survey offered to all CYP directors; (2) an online survey offered to all elementary, middle, and high school principals who had a Child and Youth Behavioral (CYB) Military Family Life Counselor (MFLC) assigned to their schools; and (3) in-person site visits to five installations to conduct qualitative interviews with relevant stakeholders.

Key Findings

The following major takeaways emerged from the needs assessment:

• Current and emerging needs generally varied by setting given the different ages and stages of children and youth, but there were some trends across settings worth noting. Highest-priority issues include the following:
  • issues of self-regulation, such as problems with self-control, tantrums, aggression, and disruptive behavior in CDCs; hyperactivity, attention problems, and emotional regulation problems in elementary schools, SACs and YPs; and hyperactivity in middle schools
  • peer relationship problems
  • excessive screen time or social media
  • general mental health issues.
• Across settings, most directors and principals indicated that they had the resources to address most needs of military-connected children but would need additional resources to address needs in the future as the prevalence of these concerns grows.
• Additional strategies are needed to better support children, youth, parents, and the teachers and staff who care for military-connected children and youth, but many directors and principals indicated they did not have the resources to implement those strategies. Prominent gaps across settings included
  • training and other supports to help parents better meet the current or emerging needs of military-connected children
  • wellness supports for teachers and staff, which was one of the top-rated priorities across settings
  • supporting students who are adjusting to a divorce in their family.
• The following additional gaps in strategies to support children and youth varied by setting:
  • CDCs reported a need for more-active partnerships with community mental or behavioral health professionals and special educational professionals
  • SAC and YPs reported the need for social-emotional learning and social skills programs
  • elementary, middle and high schools identified a need for stronger programming in mental health stigma reduction.

Strengthening Opportunities

The findings in this study point to several opportunities to strengthen the health and well-being of children and youth and the adults who care for them:

• Facilitate the identification of evidence-based resources to address current and emerging needs of students. To support teachers and staff in the identification of best practices and evidenced-based programs, such content could be curated and housed in a searchable database with relevant filters for topic and age-appropriateness (e.g., for elementary-age children).
• Strengthen staff, school, and CYP wellness programs. To minimize teacher burnout and ensure that teachers and staff are able to perform at their best, staff wellness programs that teach strategies—such as mindfulness or adult social-emotional learning—could be implemented to improve the well-being, self-efficacy, sense of appreciation, and sense of belonging among staff.
• Provide parent resources and training. Parent training was cited by principals and directors as one of the highest needs and could have the potential for high impact because resources can be shared and approaches to managing a concern in the school setting can be shared and applied at home for consistent support across settings. Creative solutions to ensuring that parents have access to accurate, high-quality information and best practices are needed.