18 USC 707 USC Annual Report

Transcription

1 18 USC 707 USC Annual Report

2 GEORGIA OPERATION: MILITARY KIDS DEVELOPMENT OF GEORGIA OMK Operation: Military Kids (OMK) represents a unique collaboration between the U.S. Army and the local communities facilitated by UGA Cooperative Extension. An official, nationwide program launch occurred on April 6, 2005, led by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. In 2012, forty-eight states and the District of Columbia participated in the project. The program positively affects youth from families and all branches and components of the military. Operation: Military Kids provides support to military kids and their families before, during and after the deployment of a loved one. It recognizes that reserve component military youth have significantly different needs than those of active component military families as they are members of civilian communities throughout all of Georgia s counties. In 2011, four local support networks received funding from the 4-H/Military Project to expand programming in these areas GOALS: ~ ~ Maintain Operation: Military Kids state team s points of contact. ~ ~ Support educational efforts for military youth designed and implemented by each Georgia partner. ~ ~ Educate youth professionals working with military youth and families. ~ ~ Educate interested individuals and organizations statewide on the issues facing Georgia s military families. ~ ~ Train youth-adult partners to become SOMK Ambassadors. ~ ~ Train youth-adult partners to properly utilize Yellow Ribbon curriculum and toolkit to positively influence children of service members. ~ ~ Capture and clearly articulate impact through oral and written communications with all stakeholders, the public and project funders. MISSION: Georgia Operation: Military Kids builds partnerships to increase capacity for youth, families and communities to support youth of military families. GEORGIA OMK IMPACT Military Families Attending OMK Camping Experiences: 202 Hero Packs Assembled: 2,971 Hero Packs Distributed: 2,971 SOMK Ambassadors: 41 SOMK Presentations: 123 SOMK Face-to-Face Contacts: 3,075 SOMK Indirect Contacts: 6,000 TOTAL IMPACT: 15,383 OMK PARTNERSHIP The State OMK Team includes representatives from Georgia 4-H, UGA Cooperative Extension, Georgia National Guard, Army Reserves, Navy Reserves, Marine Reserves, Georgia Department of Education, Woodmen of the World, Boys and Girls Club, Active Duty Army Garrison CYSS staff, Air Force Reserve Command, Quality Care for Children, Joint Family Support Assistance Program, American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion, Military Family Life Consultants and Military School Liaison Officers. Casey Mull, State Military Liaison, oper4h@uga.edu; Brian Stone, Operation: Military Kids Coordinator; April Bowen, Sumter County 4-H OMK Program Assistant; Vincent Thomas, Houston County 4-H OMK Program Assistant; Donna Buzzard, Haralson County 4-H OMK Program Assistant; Abbie Salmon, Chattooga County 4-H OMK Program Assistant

3 PROGRAM COMPONENTS READY, SET, GO! (RSG!) TRAINING SPEAK OUT FOR MILITARY KIDS (SOMK) Georgia tailors the multi-faceted, interactive Ready, Set, Go! training for youth development professionals and other interested community members based on the audience and time restraints. Providing practical information assists families in issues, such as military culture, deployment cycle and media influence. Facilitators deliver the material through requests and professional conferences. SOMK Ambassadors permeate Georgia by raising awareness for military families among their peers, schools and communities. SOMK Ambassadors is a youth-adult partnership, involving military and non-military youth. The ambassadors are trained by utilizing youth-led simulations, interviews and individual research. After training, SOMK Ambassadors lead activities for other youth and solicit community support for military families. MOBILE TECHNOLOGY LAB (MTL) OMK is dedicated to preserve communication between deployed soldiers and their loved ones. 15 computers, printers, digital cameras and video cameras allow military families to be technologically connected. There are opportunities for others to utilize the lab and learn about military families. HERO PACKS Hero Packs are tangible ways to hand deliver a salute to military youth for their strengths and sacrifices during deployment. Since the program s launch, Georgia OMK has prepared and delivered thousands of Hero Packs to schools, communities and individuals. The packs include a variety of items, including a handwritten letter to the young person from another Georgia youth. Georgia Military Installations Georgia Military Youth Population by County Legend Legend Military Youths Extension Districts Dobbins ARB Navy Supply Corps School Fort McPherson Fort Gillem 1-40 Youths Northeast Youths Northwest Youths Southeast 176-1,000 Youths Southwest 1,000-11,100 Youths Military Installations Installations in red represent those closing in FY 2011 due to Base Realignment and Closure Military Installations Fort Gordon Robins AFB Fort Benning Fort Stewart Hunter AAF Albany MCLB Moody AFB Miles Kings Bay Naval Base Source: Georgia GIS Clearinghouse, compiled by Casey Mull, University of Georgia / 4-H/Youth January 2011 Sources: Office of Secretary of Defense - Military Community and Family Policy, Georgia GIS Clearinghouse, compiled by Casey Mull, University of Georgia / 4-H/Youth January 2011

4 MILITARY YOUTH GATHER TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY AND MILITARY SPECIFIC ISSUES The sixth biennial Georgia Youth Summit was held at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, GA on September 8-9, youth and adults from 128 counties attended this two-day leadership conference. During the conference, a military-specific youth team assembled to represent diversity of military branches and components. Youth Summit is designed to increase awareness of state and local military issues, enhance youth-adult partnerships and equip youth to be leaders in their community. The summit is an outlet for youth to identify issues that are pertinent to them and their communities. These reports are shared with the Governor, Georgia General Assembly and other leaders of Georgia. Military youth identified issues, such as not living near an installation and its effects of not being able to identify with other military families and youth creating little or no support system. After identifying the issue, the youth planned a resolution to create a military youth community network and strengthen in-school student to student support programs. An additional issue identified was improving youth knowledge about their parent s job as military service members. Plans were made to lead discussion sessions between military youth and parents, as well as organizing family days to include military career day type briefings. It s hard for us (military youth) to seek acceptance and understanding from our peers, because non-military youth do not understand challenges, such as deployment, frequent moving or TDY, said Katrina P, when speaking about struggles of being a military child. It is difficult for teens to get involved due to the general lack of knowledge about ways to meet with other military youth and make a difference. At the conclusion of Youth Summit, Commissioner Mike Beatty, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, challenged youth to take what they learned from the summit back to their counties and work to make Georgia a better place to live. MILITARY YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL OMK & NATIONAL GUARD COLLABORATION The annual meeting of the Military Youth Advisory Council MYAC took place in June 2012 in Athens, GA. In 2012, OMK partnered with the Georgia National Guard to include the National Guard State Council. 11 military youth from across the state and representing numerous service branches and five teens representing the National Guard were selected after completing a rigorous application process. During the four day training session, MYAC discussed issues and situations they face as military youth. After the youth engaged in collaborative dialogue, solutions to military specific problems were developed. MYAC was challenged with returning back to their communities to share information in innovative ways with other families throughout Georgia. The council also spent a week meeting local and state military and civilian leaders, such as COL Brent Bracewell, Georgia National Guard and Dr. Howard Hendley, Director of Policy for the Georgia Department of Education. The issues that were previously identified by MYAC were discussed with these state leaders in hopes of raising awareness and advocacy of military youth challenges. After four days of fun, collaboration and meetings with state leaders, the MYAC are equipped with knowledge and information to lead OMK projects at home. The council members can launch their own local OMK team, spearhead Student-2-Student initiatives, speak to CYS leaders and much, much more.

5 MY EXPERIENCE AS A MYAC MEMBER By Ryan Loney, Military Youth Advisory Council Member Being selected for the Military Youth Advisory Council is a great honor. It has given me a chance to learn how I can help other military kids deal with our unique issues. It also gives me the opportunity to do more than just wait for someone else to do something. Attending the council training gave me real information and methods to work with others to develop ideas. Meeting the Commander at Dobbins and the State Superintendent of Education showed me that if young people can present well-thought ideas to adults, they will listen and take our input seriously. I was able to use the training I had received to develop and deliver a presentation to 100 educators at the second annual Georgia Military Child Education Conference. Without the training and encouragement of other council members and advisors, I never would have the confidence to address the attendees at the conference. The Military Youth Advisory Council tackled some important matters, but at the same time, we had fun and learned a lot about ourselves and each other. PURPLE UP FOR MILITARY KIDS April marks the nation s Month of the Military Child. This month is dedicated to honor youth impacted by deployment. In celebration, Georgia Operation: Military Kids along with thousands of people across the state came together on Friday, April 13, 2012 to wear purple to show support of military kids. Purple symbolizes all military branches, as it is a combination of Army green; Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy blue; and Marine red. On April 13, organizations, clubs, schools and businesses came together to honor American heroes and their families. Students wrote letters, organizations changed their dress code to permit purple, people gathered in moments of silence and there were parades and celebrations. People have become increasingly aware of the impact of war to military families. In addition to typical militaryrelated family stressors multiple moves bringing multiple schools families have dealt with multiple long-term deployments and separations. More than 900,000 military children have parents that have been deployed multiple times. It s great that the Department of Defense, the White House and civic leaders recognize the sacrifices made my military youth. Remember that April is Month of the Military Child. Support military youth every day, especially on April 12, 2013, and remember to Purple Up! MILITARY KIDS CAMPS IN GEORGIA Throughout the spring and summer of 2012, military and civilian partners joined forces to expand camping opportunities for military youth. From day camps to week-long residential experiences, military youth and families engaged in camps to support themselves throughout the deployment cycle. During the summer, Georgia hosted five weeks of military youth based camps, supporting approximately 485 military youth. Operation Military Kids hosted a week of free residential camp at Wahsega 4-H Center near Dahlonega, GA in July. Campers were waterlogged during the whitewater rafting trip, tried out night vision while cave crawling and overcame fears of heights by wall climbing and zip lining. Campers also attended educational workshops related to science, engineering and technology; water conservation; and healthy living. Through these fun activities, military youth gained self-confidence and developed skills to build resiliency during deployment. Camp Corral also held at Wahsega 4-H Center and sponsored by Golden Corral restaurants helped develop support for America s military children, especially those with parents who have been disabled in the line of duty. 179 campers attended this residential camp and developed coping skills, while interacting with military members and kids with similar experiences. In addition to skill development, campers enjoyed archery, ecology, wildlife and more. I had a blast along with my daughter, and we would like to extend a thank you for what you do for the military kids, said one parent volunteer. I am active duty and have been deployed seven times, leaving my wife and kids behind to care for themselves. I know it s difficult for the children and for the most part, (they) don t have an outlet to talk about things that bother them emotionally. It s good to know that these camps are available for kids to come together and experience different things and have the chance to talk with other military kids.

6 Georgia OMK assists at Yellow Ribbon events throughout the state. Operation: Military Kids is a partnership of Army Child, Youth and School Services, 4-H National Headquarters/USDA and the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension 4-H program. Operation: Military Kids Georgia is funded by the 4-H/Army Youth Development Project under Kansas State University Special Project # University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Georgia National Guard Kara Coleman Georgia Department of Education Michelle Sandrock ~~ Compiled, Georgia 4-H Casey Mull State Military Liaison Boys & Girls Clubs of America Lori Clemons Quality Care for Children Reynaldo Green American Legion Tommy Hatton written and edited by Marcus Eason, Tyler Ashley, Casey Mull and Ryan Loney For more information about OMK, contact the OMK Coordinator, Georgia 4-H oper4h@uga.edu