Department of Defense

1
Department of Defense Assistant Secretary of
Defense (Force Management Policy) Military
Community Family Policy
DoD Spouse Employment Assistance A Program
Update Third Veterans Transition Assistance
Conference Washington, DC December 5-6, 2002
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Legislative Authority

• Title 10, Section 1056. Relocation Assistance
  Programs - directs the Secretaries of the
  Military Departments to provide relocation
  information, preparation, and settling-in
  services with emphasis on spouse employment.
• Title 10, Section 1781. Office of Family Policy -
  established the Office of Family Policy,
  assigning it responsibility for military family
  policies and programs.
• Title 10, Section 1784, Employment Opportunities
  for Military Spouses authorized the Secretary of
  Defense to provide employment opportunities for
  military spouses in the same geographic area as
  their sponsors permanent duty station.
  (Establishes the Spouse Preference Program.)
• Public Law 107-107, National Defense
  Authorization Act 2002, directs DoD to report on
  the potential merit of direct financial
  assistance to spouses, and encourages
  inter-departmental and public/private
  partnerships.

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Active Duty Military Family Status
The Force Active 1,370,678 Reserve 1,251,452
About 60 of military personnel have family
responsibilities.
Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) 2000
Demographics Report, Profile of the Military
Community
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Marital Status of Active Duty Members
Includes annulled, interlocutory, legally
separated, widowed and unknown cases. Comprises
roughly 0.2
2000 Profile of the Military Community, DMDC
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Age of Military Spouses
Of a total of 693,793 military spouses, the
majority (over 70) are 35 years old or younger.
2000 Profile of the Military Community, DMDC
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Army Enlisted Spouse Demographics

• 32 have completed high school but have no
  additional formal education and 13 have a
  bachelors degree or higher level of education.
• 53 are under 29 years of age 28 are under 25.
• 42 have been married for less than 5 years 69
  for less than 10 years.
• 18 currently live together as a blended
  family, i.e., they and/or their spouse have
  children from a previous marriage or relationship
  living with them.

• U.S. Army Community and Family Support Survey of
  Army Families IV, Spring 2001

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CONUS Spouse Employment Status
Data relates to spouse employment in the civilian
labor market of the Continental U.S.
Enlisted Spouse Employment Status
Officer Spouse Employment Status
2000 Profile of the Military Community, DMDC
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Comparison of Employment Status Army Officer
Enlisted Spouses
U.S. Army Community Family Support Center,
Survey of Army Families 1V, Spring 2001
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Reasons for Wanting or Needing to Work, by
Paygrade (Percentage of responses marked very
important)
1997 Junior Enlisted Spouse Survey
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Junior Enlisted Financial Stability

• The 1999 Active Duty Survey reports 56 of junior
  enlisted personnel experience some to significant
  financial difficulties.
• Problems center on

E-3 Married with 2 children 2071 Net
Income 597 Rent 180 Utilities 250 Car
Payment 200 Miscellaneous/Laundry 90 Car
Insurance 50 Fuel 450 Groceries 150 Credit
Cards 1967 Total Expenses 104 Disposable Income

• High housing costs
• Transportation costs (car, insurance,
  maintenance)
• High cost of credit
• Child care
• Mobility costs
• Spouse employment

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Enlisted Savings and Investments
DMDCs 1999 Active Duty Survey asked Roughly
what is the total amount of savings you (and your
spouse) have? (Responses include funds in bank
accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, CDs,
Savings Bonds, mutual funds, stocks and/or bonds.)
This leaves enlisted families little room for
difficult times (unemployed spouse, etc.)
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Tension Between Military Realities and Families

• High PERSTEMPO, separation and mobility
• Emerging expectations for family time
• Frequent Relocations
• Growing number of working spouses who want careers

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Why We Help
Spouse employment/unemployment drives other
issues

• Family Income
• Child Care
• Relocation
• Recruitment
• Retention

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Impact of Military Lifestyle on Spouse Employment

• 41 of unemployed/non-employment seeking spouses
  of Air Force enlisted personnel reported that
  their spouses military career had a negative
  impact on their own career plans.
• 51 of unemployed/non-employment seeking spouses
  of Air Force officers reported that their
  spouses military career had a negative impact on
  their own career plans.

1999-2000 Air Force Community Needs Assessment
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Impact of Spouse Employment Retention

• Members with spouses who were employed in
  civilian jobs (54.5) or voluntarily out of the
  work force (55) indicated satisfaction with the
  military way of life to a greater extent than did
  other married personnel. (1999 Active Duty
  Member Survey, DMDC)
• An increase in the spouses employment and
  earnings increased satisfaction with Army life
  and, in turn, enhanced her desire for her husband
  to remain in the Army. (Interrelationships of
  Child Care Use, Spouse Employment, Army
  Satisfaction, and Retention in the U.S. Army,
  1994)
• The quality of spouse employment and family life
  enhance satisfaction with Army life and increased
  her desire for the retention of her husband in
  the Army. (The Socioeconomic Benefits to
  Military Families of Home-Basing of Armed Forces,
  1994)

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Impact of Spouse Employment Retention (continued)

• Number 1 factor related to career intent for all
  Army personnel Spouse supports your making a
  career of the Army.
• Strongest relationships for junior enlisted Army
  personnel Satisfaction with overall quality of
  Army life and spouse supports your making a
  career of the Army.
• In 2001, about one half of junior enlisted
  soldiers and about three fourths of junior NCOs
  and junior officers reported that their spouse if
  fairly/very supportive of their making a career
  in the Army.

• Army Personnel Survey Office, U.S. Army Research
  Institute presentation for the Symposium on Army
  Spouses, June 18, 2002

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DoD Spouse Employment Programs

• Family Center Programs
• Information and referral
• Education and training
• Job banks
• Outreach to clients and community
• Headquarters Initiatives
• Internet resources
• Research
• Resource management
• Policy/operations guidance
• High Profile Programs
• Spouse Employment Action Agenda
• Spouse Telework Employment Program
• Corporate partnerships
• Department of Labor partnerships

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Spouse Employment Summit

• Held in Phoenix, AZ, August 22-25, 2000, in
  conjunction with DoD Family Readiness Conference.
• Attended by approximately 120 headquarters,
  command and installation program staff civilian
  personnel staff subject matter experts and
  spouses from all four Military Services.
• Approximately 13 working groups isolated key
  issues and proffered solutions.
• Report issued December 21, 2000.
• Follow-up conference held April 9-10, 2002, in
  Orlando, FL

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Summit Action Agenda

• Policy - Need to define and standardize Military
  programs and policy guidance.
• Resources - Need to provide dedicated resources
  within the system to address staffing, career
  development, and skills training.
• Spouse Career Continuity/Corporate Partnerships -
  Need to partner with private industry to connect
  spouses with portable jobs and other methods of
  pursuing lifetime career goals.
• Marketing - Need to make existing resources known
  and relate them to customer needs.

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Policy Standardization

• Web-based Consolidation and Comparison Spouse
  Central (under development)
• Updating Service Guidance New Army and Navy Desk
  Guides
• National Defense Authorization Act 2002 Section
  571 requires review of existing spouse employment
  programs with an eye towards enhancing retention.
  
• Performance Measures.
• Strategic Plan Do We Need a DoD Instruction?

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Enhancing Resources Challenges and Opportunities

• Emerging Military Requirements International
  obligations and the War on Terrorism.
• Montgomery G.I. Bill Benefits Expansion
  Extremely limited in scope.
• Section 571, National Defense Authorization Act
  2002 Its not just a report its an
  opportunity.
• Social Compact.
• Ongoing Service Efforts.
• Technology-based Solutions.

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Internet Resources

• DoD Job Search lthttp//dod.jobsearch.orggt
  features want ads, resume writing, and referral
  systems.
• One-Stop Jobs (part of the MAPsite Employment
  Station) lthttp//dticaw.dtic.mil/mapsite/onestop.h
  tmlgt provides a single listing of major DoD and
  Military Component organizations employment Web
  sites and a selection commercial employment Web
  sites.
• Transition Bulletin Board lthttp//www.dmdc.osd.mil
  /ot/gt lists job want ads and other useful
  information.
• DoD Transportal lthttp//www.dodtransportal.org/gt
  although primarily for separating military
  personnel, contains resources of value for any
  military family member seeking a job.
• Military Assistance Program Central
  lthttp//dtica.dtic.mil/mapcentralgt an on-line
  desk guide rich in policy and information
  resources for spouse employment professionals.

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Career Continuity Department of Labor (DoL)
Partnership

• In August 2001, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and
  Secretary of Labor Chao met to discuss partnering
  in three key areas recruiting, spouse employment
  and transition.
• DoL programs are managed locally according to
  state law, but there are some areas where
  headquarters action could benefit military
  spouses, including definition of displaced
  workers, DoL partner programs, statistics, and a
  Web site.
• DoD and DoL are developing a multi-layered plan
  which would bring together existing resources.
  Further developments would proceed in stages
  based on pilot programs and an assessment of
  their results.

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Department of Labor (DoL) Partnership Early
Results

• Career Accelerator Centers in Fort Campbell, KY
  Hampton Roads, VA and San Diego, CA, granted
  permission to serve spouses who have lost jobs to
  relocation. Opportunities include individual
  training accounts and access to services provided
  displaced workers under Pell and Workforce
  Investment Act grants.
• Military Spouse Resource Center
  lthttp//testing.milspouse.orggt

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Career Continuity Spouse Telework Employment
Program
The Departments of State, Defense and Labor, and
the General Services Administration propose a
public/private partnership to address the spouse
employment issues. Partnership objectives
encompass

• Increasing domestic and foreign private sector
  career opportunities.
• Serving as a basis for an expanded program of
  remote training and teleworking facilities, and a
  database of remote work opportunities.
• Augmenting existing military and federal programs
  to assist spouses in all stages of their
  professional development.

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Career Continuity Corporate Partnerships

• October 2000 The Military Quality of Life Summit
  at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce identified
  military spouse training and employment as a
  priority.
• January 2001 CISCO and the Communications
  Workers of America provide scholarships for
  classroom and distance learning technology
  training leading to A and CISCO network
  certification.
• March 2001 Marriott, CVS and Home Depot
  expressed a firm interest in partnering with DoD
  to provide jobs and portable tenure for DoD
  spouses in their organizations.
• January 2002 First phase of Navy/Adecco
  contractual partnership begins.
• June 2002 The Spouse Employment Working Group
  began conferring with General Counsel and others
  regarding a possible hiring preference for
  spouses in DoD contracts. Meanwhile, General
  Counsel continues to work on the language for
  potential public/private partnership agreements
  per P.L. 107-107.

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Marketing

• Challenging audience.
• First you need something to market the Adecco
  experience.
• Army Family Team Building assessment suggests
  better methods

• Immediate versus delayed outreach.
• Active versus passive marketing.
• Demonstrative versus didactic marketing.
• Direct versus indirect information distribution.
• Coordinated versus segmented support services
  programs.

• Partnership opportunities.

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Looking to the Future

• DoD Research

• Social Compact/Defense Planning Guidance
• RAND
• Military Family Research Institute

• Service Research

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The goal of DoD spouse employment policy is to
create a military spouse employment program that
affords every spouse the opportunity to develop a
career or become employed.