In the past two decades, the United States has deployed a high number of U.S. federal government civilians to high-threat environments. Past findings point to a likely need for civilian post-deployment reintegration support. However, until now, a descriptive account of such support has been lacking. In this report, the authors present assessments of federal agencies' practices to reintegrate civilians following a deployment to high-threat areas.

Civilian Post-Deployment Reintegration

A Review and Analysis of Practices Across U.S. Federal Agencies

Molly Dunigan, Kristie L. Gore, Katherine L. Kidder, Michael Schwille, Samantha Cherney, James Sladden

ResearchPublished Feb 11, 2020

Over the past two decades, the United States has deployed an unprecedented number of U.S. federal government civilians to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to perform a wide variety of tasks. As more civilians have deployed, increasing numbers have been exposed to high-threat environments and high levels of stress. Studies of civilians (both government-employed and contractors) deployed to areas of conflict indicate that combat exposure and related stressors correlate with significant levels of deployment-related health conditions for this population. Anecdotal evidence further confirms that deployed civilians face similar deployment-related challenges to those experienced by military personnel, in terms of both health conditions and family challenges. This evidence demonstrates that there is a likely need for civilian post-deployment reintegration support. However, until now, a descriptive account of the specific policies, processes, tools, and outputs associated with reintegration for deployed civilians has been lacking.

This report reviews and analyzes assessments of the practices that U.S. federal agencies use to reintegrate civilians following domestic or overseas deployments to high-threat environments. The researchers aim to determine the extent to which such activities vary across the interagency community, and also identify promising practices for such agencies to pursue in the future. The authors leverage interview insights from federal agencies and a review of U.S. military post-deployment reintegration to accomplish these tasks. The authors also draw on U.S. military and Department of Defense (DoD) civilian policy, programs, and experiences with redeployment to inform future reintegration efforts.

Key Takeaways

Policymakers and stakeholders should consider the following key findings when taking further steps

  • Civilian post-deployment reintegration concepts and practices vary across non-DoD federal agencies.
  • Civilian deployees must actively seek post-deployment reintegration assistance, but they often lack knowledge regarding the availability of reintegration activities.
  • Civilian deployees seeking reintegration assistance are stigmatized in some cases.
  • Personal services contractors typically do not receive post-deployment reintegration support and are more difficult to track following the end of their contracts.
  • No reliable data exist to date on the size and scale of the issues facing individual civilian deployees, and more evidence-based research is needed.

Recommendations

  • Both DoD and non-DoD federal agencies should work together to consolidate and standardize civilian post-deployment reintegration activities, practices, and programs.
  • Individual agencies deploying civilians should raise awareness of existing policies, programs, and activities—and thus destigmatize efforts to seek help.
  • Individual agencies should establish processes to effectively track civilians, including personal services contractors, following a deployment.
  • Individual agencies should mandate exit interviews during the redeployment process to assist organizations in tracking their deployees and to gain useful feedback on deployment-related issues.
  • Individual agencies and both DoD and non-DoD federal agency communities should conduct further evidence-based research on civilian deployees and post-deployment reintegration activities.

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Dunigan, Molly, Kristie L. Gore, Katherine L. Kidder, Michael Schwille, Samantha Cherney, and James Sladden, Civilian Post-Deployment Reintegration: A Review and Analysis of Practices Across U.S. Federal Agencies. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2020. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3220.html.
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