I need your help to get as much exposure to this post as I possibly can.

Feel free to email this to anyone and everyone you know and to post it on every forum you frequent

I have a special needs child, he is autistic. I have 3 other children as well but they are not the basis of this issue that Im asking for help on.
The DOD school system has a policy that a military member MUST live on post/base at the beginning of a school year for that members children to attend school in the on post/base schools. This normally is not a big issue except in my case.
The DOD system can and has done MUCH more for my Autistic son than the local school system is able to do because of budget and staffing differences.
I have lived on post for 4 years now and Im at a point in my life that I want to OWN my own home. I however dont have this option if I want to keep my son in the best schools that there are available to him for his disability within my means.
I have pleaded with the system to make an exception to the rule in the case of children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability and who are in the ARMY EFMP (exceptional family member program). To be in this program the individual in question had to be diagnosed by a Military or DOD doctor as having a mental or physical disability requiring special care. If you have a family member in this program the military is not allowed to station you in a place that does not have the proper facilities to care for this individual.
So here I am wanting to move off post into a place that I purchased, but I cannot/willnot because I would have to put my son in a school that would have inferior services than what are available to him on post/base.
Im asking all of you to plead to your senators to have this policy modified to allow Servicemembers to live off post/base and have a child who is enrolled in the EFMP for a mental/learning disability to be allowed to stay in the DOD education system untill graduation from High School.
Im deployed to Afghanistan at the moment but my home station is Fort Campbell Ky. I know For sure this is the policy there and I believe it is the policy world wide. If you will concentrate your efforts DOD wide but PLEASE make sure to specifically mention Fort Campbell I would GREATLY appreciate it.
If your unsure of what to ask or what im talking about please feel free to pm me I will be happy to try and clear up any questions that you have about this.


Thanks,
A soldier in need of assistance.

Wow Not one look in 5 hours huh?

so you have to be in the army to do this? right?

I think he has to live in the housing they provide for you and since he bought a new home I don't think they wanna offer it to him anymore.

I have not purchased yet. The deal is my kids can go to on post schools as long as I live on post. This is fine in normal situations. The difference is the funding for special education in the local towns vs. on post. There is an ASTRONOMICAL difference in education quality for special ed students on post vs off post. Now me moving off post makes no difference to the army besides the fact that it opend one unit of military housing for a newer younger soldier. They still pay me the same. My money goes to a third party regardless of where i live since housing has been privatized on Ft. Campbell. You do not have to be military to help me with this. All you have to do is take a few minutes to call or email your senator and ask them to push for a change in the policy when it comes to special needs children. Ask them to allow special needs children to attend on post schools even if they dont live on post.

how do i do this?

consider the house off base an investment property problem solved

How is an investment a problem solved? The problem lies in the fact that IF I want my child to get the best education and resources available to him for his disability then I have to stay living on post. Here lies the issue. One of the benifits to being military is having some resources that are harder for civilians to get without having a higher income bracket. The way the rules are written now I have to chose between whats best for my family as a WHOLE, and whats best for one of my children. IOm asking everyone here to help me get this rule changed for me and anyone else who is military and may be in a similar situation.




If anyone wants to help me then copy my first postand email it to your Senator.

I wish you the best of luck- but have you considered your childs future ahead of your need for a house off base? If you can't afford to do both, you have to make a choice. I hope it all works out.

As far as I know- Ft Belvoir in this area has some VERY NICE houses on base, along with other bases I've seen. Is that not an option to you?

I live here on Campbell too, and I don't know if you're tracking or not, but Fort Campbell has the ONLY DoDDs school that is stateside. I know it's a giant pain in the ass, but living on post is TOTALLY worth having your kids attend a DoDD school. I was an army-brat before I came in and attended school over in Germany, so I can vouch for the quality you're talking about. Have you thought about appealing through the EFMP reps or maybe finding an ombudsman at BACH? At the very least, you might be able to schedule a sit-down with the school superintendent or principal and see what you can work out as far as keeping your one kiddo enrolled with them. You might also talk to a doctor and see if he/she can write up some orders suggesting your kiddo stay in an environment they know and is best in the area for special needs. Good luck!

Hooah brother! Im always willing to help a fellow soldier. Consider the letter sent along with the rest of my team

tenn-gsx said:

Wow Not one look in 5 hours huh?

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Sometimes a new thread will not register views until hours after it's been posted. I've already seen threads I've started get responses, but still show no views....which is impossible.

I'm sorry about your situation, but don't make posts like that assuming nobody cares. It makes you look like you're desperate, which would turn someone like me away in a hurry.

Shaggy_357 said:

I live here on Campbell too, and I don't know if you're tracking or not, but Fort Campbell has the ONLY DoDDs school that is stateside. I know it's a giant pain in the ass, but living on post is TOTALLY worth having your kids attend a DoDD school. I was an army-brat before I came in and attended school over in Germany, so I can vouch for the quality you're talking about. Have you thought about appealing through the EFMP reps or maybe finding an ombudsman at BACH? At the very least, you might be able to schedule a sit-down with the school superintendent or principal and see what you can work out as far as keeping your one kiddo enrolled with them. You might also talk to a doctor and see if he/she can write up some orders suggesting your kiddo stay in an environment they know and is best in the area for special needs. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I have tried the school its self. The teachers and principal agree agree there should be an exception to the policy for children like mine. Im In Afghanistan right now and will be for a few more months. Ill bring up the possibility of maybe BACH being able to help our cause to my wife. Im fully aware of the quality of education on post. This is why I HAVE NOT purchased a house yet. We were going to before I left but then we were reminded about the school policy of living on post so we decided to put it on hold until we spend some time trying to find a way to do both.

jusmx141 said:

Sometimes a new thread will not register views until hours after it's been posted. I've already seen threads I've started get responses, but still show no views....which is impossible.

I'm sorry about your situation, but don't make posts like that assuming nobody cares. It makes you look like you're desperate, which would turn someone like me away in a hurry.

Click to expand...

Thats fine. I get your point. Maybe I should have been more patient I dont know. If me saying that though would turn someone like you away because you think it makes me look desperate then so be it. Im in a situation that as of right now makes me live somewhere that none of my family wants to live. That makes this pretty important to me. Part of taking care of a family is making sure that they have what they need AND thay they are happy at the same time. Im trying to do that. What I have been advised to do by certain people within the system is to ask the general public for help and hope that enough respond and act apon it. If you havew never lived on a military post you could not understand the CRAP that goes on in these housing areas.