The life of a servicemember’s family can be one of near-constant change and uncertainty.

School-aged children often have to “start over” at school as their parents try to navigate a new bridge between military and civilian worlds.

During Month of the Military Child this April, servicemembers should familiarize themselves with Military OneSource, a DoD-funded program that provides important information on a host of topics including schools, area youth centers, child care providers, preschool activities, and community partnerships. Online tutoring, non-medical counseling, and parenting resources are all also available at no cost on the Military OneSource website.

[RELATED: More Spouse and Family News and Resources From MOAA]

This year’s Month of the Military Child theme is Taking Care of Our Military Children; Military OneSource offers a variety of ways to support your fellow families in uniform, to include:

• Wearing purple on April 3, Purple Up Day.
• Promoting Month of the Military Child via social media.
• Letting your neighbor know about free military kid appreciation giveaways available in some locations, like Pop Its, lunch boxes, backpack pins, and sticker sheets.

Jen Goodale, MOAA’s director of Government Relations for Military Family and Survivor Policy, applauded DoD’s recent efforts to address the nationwide child care shortage, citing expansion of the In-Home Child Care pilot program, recent increase in child care fee assistance, and the pending introduction of dependent care flexible spending accounts for servicemembers.

A DoD demographics report from 2020 estimates there are more than 1.6 million military children, more than 37% of which are 5 years of age or younger.

In addition, MOAA is advocating for full restoration of the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to help ease the burden of inflation for families settling into a new community. According to FY 2023 DoD tables, an average O-3 with dependents will pay $1,596 out of pocket a year for housing costs while an E-5 with dependents will pay an average of $1,332 a year.

[SHARE YOUR STORY: How Have You Been Impacted by Increased Out-of-Pocket Costs Related to Your Rent?]

MOAA is also fighting to increase the age that adult children can stay on their parents’ TRICARE plan. As it stands now, when a child reaches 21 (or 23 for a full-time college student), they are no longer eligible to be on their parents’ plan. Traditional, non-military health care plans allow children to stay on their families’ policies until age 26.

“At MOAA, we know the entire family serves, and our advocacy efforts are focused on ensuring military families have the support and resources they need to raise and educate our youngest heroes,” Goodale said.

Interested in supporting MOAA’s military family legislative priorities? Visit MOAA’s Legislative Action Center for more details.