Our Story
Our EFMP story started when our now middle child was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. My husband was on recruiting orders, we were living in Boston, and trying to navigate a child who had some extra needs. When it came time to leave Boston I was worried about where we were going next and if our son would have the services he needed and how long the wait times would be. At that point we had never heard of EFMP and that we needed to be enrolled. When we got to our new duty station we were getting referrals and talking with our PCM and she mentioned we needed to be enrolled and helped us get the process started. We spent 3 years not enrolled because we didn’t know what it was.
My husband came down on orders 18 months after our last PCS. We were in the middle of COVID and I was lost on the whole process and what EFMP was supposed to do. I didn’t want it to affect my husband’s career but I also was worried about our son getting the help he needed. This is when I found EFM via Facebook. They answered all of my questions and helped me understand everything about EFMP and moving. The EFMP office did their job and checked to make sure the incoming duty station could meet our needs and have appropriate wait times.
Our youngest was diagnosed with very early onset inflammatory bowel disease at 2 years old which has triggered another EFMP enrollement for our family. Because of our frequent trips to specialty doctors and her unique medication, it takes a lot more planning to ensure coverage is not lapsed through moves and she sees doctors in a timely manner. Throughout our 13 years as a military family with 6 spent as an EFMP famliy we’ve seen the ups and downs of the program. Just as any other military program there can be flaws but is has helped protect our family and ensure our kids get services. We have done several moves as an EFMP family and are about to complete another later this year. We have had to adjust our idea and view of what my husband’s military career would look like but it hasn’t been negatively impacted because of it.
While things are always changing in the military and EFMP world, I spend my days volunteering with Exceptional Families of the Military and doing everything I can to help positively impact our families.
What is EFMP?
In 1979, the Army introduced EFMP to provide assistance for family members who needed specialized medical care and other service branches implementation of the program followed. The program originally had volunteer enrollment, but over the course of the years, advocacy groups banded together and voiced their concerns about these family members’ unique needs. Congress then created the Military Family Act of 1985 which in turn caused the DOD to create the Office of Family Policy. The Office of Family Policy’s purpose was to assist military departments in creating activities related to military families. Enrollment is no longer optional and families who qualify for EFMP are required to enroll.
Who Needs to Enroll?
EFMP is a mandatory enrollment program that provides coordinated community support, housing, educational, medical, and personnel services worldwide to U.S. military families with special needs.
Every branch has a different way to enroll. Currently, the Air Force/Space Force and Army have online enrollment processes while the other branches are using paper. Contacting your local EFMP office is the best way to get the information needed if you need to enroll.
What is Exceptional Families of the Military?
Our organization was founded by Austin Carrigg, a military spouse who testified in front of Congress in 2020 about the struggles her family and others experience as military families with exceptional needs family members. So many families attended they had to open an overflow room, and afterward she was inundated with families reaching out to share their stories with her. She started EFM to create a safe place for military families with disabilities, special healthcare needs, or additional educational needs from all branches of the service, to connect, in order to navigate within the Department Of Defense Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP). For the approximately 146,000 enrollees that navigate this system, some face barriers and confusion and many times are not sure where to turn for questions and support. EFM helps fill the gap for support.EFM is an all-volunteer-led non-profit organization with close connections to the EFM community.
What does EFM do?
Today we have three pillars as the foundation for our non-profit. First is Direct Family Support. This is 1:1 family support where we help families with guidance, support, and help to advocate on their behalf. Second is our military support groups. We all understand life can be challenging, especially for military families with exceptional needs family members. We have 11 support groups from family support, autism, branch and base specific, and overseas screening. This is our way to connect our EFMP families and give them a place to ask for advice and support from others living similar experiences. Our last pillar is Government Policy and Legislative Priorities. Our government and legislative team works to make changes that benefit all military families affected.
Meet Kirtley
Hey I’m Kirtley! I’ve been married to an Army soldier for 13 years. In those 13 years we’ve moved 6 times, 3 deployments, and had 3 kids. Our youngest 2 kids have exceptional needs. During the day I am the Chief Operations Officer for EFM. At night I help teach a full stack coding bootcamp. You can almost always find me staying up way too late, reading or knitting and surviving off caffeine the next morning.
