COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS & BEST PRACTICES

Childcare Subsidies 

Learn here how one Army installation partnered with their local community to provide childcare subsidies to military families in California's Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.  

Joint Base Lewis-McChord Partnership Tackles Childcare 

Working with a diverse group of DoD, community, and industry partners, the South Sound Military and Communities Partnership helped lead an initiative to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing military families today: childcare. Click here to learn more about this innovative military childcare strategy. Click here for more information on the My Child Care In Your Neighborhood - Plus program, designed to increase availability of affordable, quality childcare for military families.

Partnerships Lead to a Creative Solution in Childcare 

State 4-H Military Liaisons lead Idaho Outreach to Military Kids (OMK) State Teams in partnerships with the National Guard, Army Reserve, the Military Child Education Coalition, Boys and Girls Club of America, the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and the American Legion. OMK's goal is to build community capacity to create local support networks, raise community awareness and implement educational programs for Idaho military youth. As a creative solution to childcare challenges for Idaho Reserve and Air National Guard families, the program hosts monthly youth camps on weekends when military parents must be at Gowen Field for drills. Click here to learn more about this creative solution to childcare.

Supporting Military Parents Pursuing Higher Education

Learn how one community's United Way is offering childcare scholarships to cover the majority of costs for quality childcare for military spouses seeking a degree or job training.  By providing access to affordable childcare, parents can further their education and provide a stronger foundation for their family.  These scholarships are available for childcare centers on and off-base. Learn more about this childcare solution for job training and degree seeking spouses.

Partners in PROMISE MIC3 Advocacy Toolkit

Learn how to advocate for a seat on your state's MIC3 Council here. 

Power of partnerships: Holloman and Goodfellow Schools See Results

Learn here from School Liaisons at Goodfellow and Holloman about how they helped secure education initiatives for military children and the partnerships that made it all possible. If you would like to contact these School Liaisons and learn more about their successful partnerships, please reach out to the Department of the Air Force School Liaison Program Manager at af.cyes.slo@gmail.com to be connected.

Military Family Open Enrollment in Public Schools

Learn here about Colorado Legislation that allows military families to register electronically based on orders and use the base School Liaison Office’s address if necessary.  If you would like to contact the military spouse who made this happen and learn how to do so in your state, please reach out to the Thrive Team at thriveteam2021@gmail.com and we will connect you.  

For more information on this initiative, as well as other case studies in community partnerships and education, please visit the A+ Toolkit Case Studies page here. 

Malmstrom AFB partners with Great Falls Public Schools

Learn here how Malmstrom AFB partnered with their local community to create a pilot Pre-K Program, CDC Intern Program, an Educator's Summit, and more.  Click here for additional information on their seven proposals for partnerships.

Investing in the Military, Education, and the Future of Cybersecurity

Learn here how one community has partnered with the military to develop future leaders in cybersecurity in K-12 Education through a partnership with Jacksonville High School and Little Rock AFB, AK.  You can also learn more about this initiative by emailing school.liaison@us.af.mil.

DoD STARBASE

DoD STARBASE is a premier educational program, sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. At DoD STARBASE students participate in challenging “hands-on, minds-on” activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). They interact with military personnel to explore careers and observe STEM applications in the “real world.” The program provides students with 25 hours of stimulating experiences at National Guard, Marine, Air Force Reserve, Army, and Air Force bases across the nation.  Click here for further information on the STARBASE youth outreach program and learn here how you too can have a STARBASE at your location.

Fort Meade's Education and Resiliency Center

Fort Meade's Education and Resiliency Center focuses on education and the five pillars of resiliency: physical, emotional, social, family and spiritual. The services will range from guidance counseling and transition efforts to mental health counseling, wellness programs and financial planning. A premier benefit of this space will be new programming for educational programs needed for successful career placement and continuing education, and expansion of existing programs to broader audiences, including spouses.  Click here to learn more about this multi-million dollar community partnership project that will make a difference for the entire military community. 

Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) of Alaska

The ASYMCA of Alaska coordinates with local installation leadership to ensure a network of support for currently serving military families stationed in Alaska. This collaboration identifies and addresses gaps in services that pose a hardship to service members and their families—hardships that can negatively affect mission readiness.  This initiative is not funded by the DoD but instead through partnerships with the local community. One effort of support is through the ASYMCA Children's Waiting Room (CWR) which provides a safe, nurturing environment for children while their parents attend medical appointments at the JBER Hospital, the Bassett Army Community Hospital on Ft. Wainwright, or the Baker Field House on Eielson AFB. For more information on this awesome community partnership, visit here.  

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base partners with the City of Goldsboro

Physical fitness can have immediate long-term health benefits while also improving quality of life. Learn here how Seymour Johnson Air Force Base partnered with the City of Goldsboro to create a multi-sports complex and add a 2500 square foot addition to the Seymour Johnson Fitness Center.

Fort Meade's Education and Resiliency Center

Fort Meade's Education and Resiliency Center focuses on education and the five pillars of resiliency: physical, emotional, social, family and spiritual. The services will range from guidance counseling and transition efforts to mental health counseling, wellness programs and financial planning. A premier benefit of this space will be new programming for educational programs needed for successful career placement and continuing education, and expansion of existing programs to broader audiences, including spouses.  Click here to learn more about this multi-million dollar community partnership project that will make a difference for the entire military community. 

Altus AFB Community Partnership Resolves Base Housing Gaps

Learn how Altus AFB partnered with their local community to provide quality and affordable housing to military families assigned to Altus AFB in Oklahoma. 

Military Spouse Co-Working Space

See how the Army has created co-working space opportunities for military spouses in this ADC Presentation and News Article.

Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zones (MSEEZ)

Working with a broad array of public and private sector supporters, MSEEZ foster collaboration among local stakeholders and work to identify opportunities as well as barriers to entry for military spouses seeking meaningful employment via the Hire, Train, and Advocate pillars. Established to connect military spouses with companies committed to hiring, MSEEZ are collaborative efforts among the local business, civic, and military communities that establish employment networks in municipalities around the country. MSEEZ communities address local military spouse unemployment and underemployment issues through working groups. The working group members are in the local community and represent government, industry, or nonprofit organizations. The MSEEZ Playbook (found here) details best practices for working groups.

Military Spouse Space

Learn here how one community has made a difference to provide a place spouses can work, study and connect. Thanks to a partnership between Vance AFB and the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA), a creative solution was identified that supports spouse employment and promotes mental well-being through socialization and community.