WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army recently launched a new digital platform to streamline care for families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program. The automated Enterprise EFMP System makes enrollment, assignment coordination and family support access easier and synchronizes all aspects of care for families with special needs.
The system’s online forms cloud-save data, and case files will automatically transfer with Soldiers and their families throughout their Army careers, reducing paperwork and administrative hurdles.
“As a military spouse and parent myself, I know the frustration of having to fill out the same form multiple times,” said Dee Geise, director of the Army’s Quality of Life Task Force, which led development of the new system. “E-EFMP makes that kind of redundant and physical burden unnecessary and brings a number of other benefits.”
EFMP is a mandatory enrollment program that works with other military and civilian agencies to provide comprehensive and coordinated community support, housing, and educational, medical and personnel services to families with special-needs members. Approximately 9% of active-duty Soldiers have family members with special needs, including spouses, children or dependent parents who require special medical or educational services.
Input from Soldiers and families was important in the development of E-EFMP. More than 1,000 Army families participated in a 2021 pilot of the E-EFMP website, which allowed them to “test drive” the system and offer feedback to the developers and program managers.
To keep users’ health data secure, E-EFMP was created in accordance with Impact Level-5 standards, ensuring that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other privacy information is protected. User access to E-EFMP is protected through CAC authentication or DS Login and strong multifactor authentication and housed in the Army’s Enterprise Cloud Environment.
Enrollment in the EFMP ensures that family members' documented medical and educational needs receive consideration during assignment coordination. The program has three components: identification and enrollment of a family member with special medical or educational needs; assignment coordination to determine the availability of services at a Soldier’s projected duty station; and support to help families identify and access programs and services.
An exceptional family member is a family member with any physical, emotional, developmental or intellectual disorder that requires special treatment, therapy, education, training or counseling, and meets the eligibility criteria. Currently, 55,000 family members are enrolled in the Army’s EFMP.
Current and prospective EFMP clients can log in to the new E-EFMP system on the EFMP website.
Related video: What is E-EFMP? (DVIDS)
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