Multiple Perspectives on Barriers to Supporting Military Connected Children within Civilian Schools

Background and Purpose:  Approximately 90% of military children attend civilian schools in one of 13,588 civilian school districts.  While in recent years policy, programs, and partnerships that support military-connected children attending civilian schools have become increasing visible, civilian schools frequently lack the capacity to support military-connected children despite their potential role as support systems during stressful and transitional times. While these challenges may be attributed to specific factors such as cultural competency among providers or training that is children and adolescent specific in focus, little research has examined barriers that may challenge civilian school-based providers in their effort to support military-connected children.

This study describes barriers to support for military-connected children who attend civilian schools.  The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore military-connected and school-based providers’ perspectives regarding what barriers challenge efforts to support military-connected children in civilian school settings.

Methods:  Data came from a two-phased, mixed-method statewide needs assessment conducted between June 2011 and May 2012.  First, semi-structured interviews were conducted in efforts to gain a representative perspective of military-connected (n = 8) and school-based (n =  8) providers who worked with military-connected children.  Information gathered during these interviews helped guide the creation of a survey.  Second, surveys (n = 105) were completed by school social workers employed within civilian schools. 

Our sample was recruited using a snowball and judgment sample technique for interviews, followed by criterion and cluster sampling for surveys.  

Interview data was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed for themes using a content analysis data reduction approach. Survey responses were collected in Qualtrics and data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results:  Results indicate that multiple barriers impact providers’ capacity to support military-connected children who attend civilian schools.  We identified four barriers from the qualitative data, including:  lack of military cultural competence among school-based educators; lack of bi-directional communication between military-connected and school-based providers; need for better systems to identify military-connected children; and competing demands between educational and mental health needs of military-connected children.  Barriers within the quantitative data included: lack of coordination between schools and military organizations (76%); shortage of time (among school-based providers) (72%); financial costs (70%); transportation barriers (64%); and lack of training for school-based providers (60%).

Conclusion and Implications:  This study shines a light on the importance of incorporating perspectives of military and school-based providers and their work with military-connected children in civilian school settings and highlights differences between schools with less visible military-connected populations. Providers who work in settings where there are fewer military-connected children may face additional challenges in identifying, tracking, and supporting military-connected children who may have few peers or access to support from other military-connected children in their situation.