Noteboom The Law Firm

New Online Program Helping Children of Deployed U.S. Soldiers Cope

While our thoughts usually tend to focus on the health and well-being of our soldiers and veterans, few stop to think about the impact military life has on the families of veterans and active duty soldiers. A new website developed by the Department of Defense (DOD) is helping to ease these issues by connecting children to others their age in similar situations.

The Military Kids Connect website is split into 3 age groups, 6-8 years old, 9-12 years old, and 13-17 years old. Each track was developed by psychologists from the DOD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology. The courses are geared toward each age level and provide many resources such as: 

• interactive maps with info on deployment locations;
• peer-to-peer interactions through social networking;
• videos of other military kids and families;
• scrapbooks to share photos and videos; and
• interactive games and incentives.

The new initiative is showing great promise already during its first iteration. Plans to expand and customize the experience are underway with a focus on improving parent-child interactions on the site, as well as looking at how post-deployment can factor in to a child’s emotional health. Veterans will be the focus of this second iteration as they cope with the stresses of returning to civilian life and reuniting with their loved ones.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veteran’s disability rights firm today – 1-888-234-5758.