House lawmakers scold DOD leaders for lack of progress on improving program for special needs families

After accusing the government officials in charge of the military’s Exceptional Family Member Program of “happy talk,” but no action, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., vowed Wednesday to bring the six executives back to Capitol Hill every three months until they’ve met all the recommendations made for their programs by the Government Accountability Office nearly two years ago.

“We are going to be hawks on this,” said Speier, chairwoman of the subpanel on military personnel for the House Armed Services Committee.

Wednesday’s hearing was the first time in more than a decade that the committee had heard about the program, known as EFMP, which is a mandatory enrollment program for service members who have a family member with special needs requiring specialized medical care, treatment programs or educational services.

While EFMP is meant to ensure that those service members receive duty assignments to locations where those special needs can be met, testimony from two military spouses with children in the program and three representatives from military advocacy groups depicted the program is failing in several ways. About 135,000 military family members are enrolled in the program, as of April 2019.

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