In October 2007, Army Leadership unveiled the Army Family Covenant. The covenant communicates the Army’s commitment to provide the Army Family with a quality of life that honors the sacrifices our Soldiers and their Families make to protect America’s Freedom.  So far the Army has committed over one million dollars for Family Programs in Vicenza. With this commitment and the additional funding these promises are becoming a reality.  You may be asking what has this money been spent on or how will the Army Family Covenant help my Family?  For the answers lets take a look at each of the MWR program areas where Army Family Covenant funds are making a difference.

CYS –is delivering on the Covenant’s promise of excellence with: Deployment Cycle Support, Fee Reductions for Parents, Support for Warriors in Transition, Accredited CYS programs, Free and reduced child care fees, including: Free CYS Registration to all Families who use CYS and 16 Hours of No Cost Respite Care (per child per month) for deployed Families and Families of wounded/fallen warriors.

There are additional discounts for Families of deployed and wounded/fallen warriors, including: waived Fees for 4 Instructional Classes and 2 Team or individual Sports per Child/ Youth, 20% Regular Full Day / Part Day Child Care Fee Reductions for deployed Families with employed spouse, Hourly Child Care Fee Reductions to $2.00 per hour for Families of deployed soldiers, wounded/fallen warriors and Rear D.

These funds pay for free child care so Families to attend memorial services and monthly FRG meetings, 40 free hours of care for families of fallen warriors and free hourly care for Families of wounded warriors in order to attend medical appointments.

Army Family Covenant funds support CYS Families during deployment, including:  extended hours of care, additional supplies and equipment to support extended care or additional child care spaces, transportation and equipment to support increased programming.

ACS has increased staffing to meet operational demands, additional Military Family Life Consultants, Expanded Educational opportunities for Family members, Respite Care for Exceptional Family Members, and Wounded Warrior Program. Six Permanent Full Time positions have been added. In the past some of these positions were filled by contractors, but permanent employees will ensure stronger continuity in programming. These are the positions we have added:

ARMY FAMILY TEAM BUILDING/ARMY FAMILY ACTION PLAN (AFTB/AFAP) COORDINATOR - The AFTB Coordinator was previously a part-time contract position and the AFAP was handled by the Army Volunteer Corps Coordinator as an additional duty.  The addition of a full time coordinator has brought long term stability to the AFTB program and ensured that the AFAP program gets the attention it requires to succeed.  We have already identified more issues for the FY09 AFAP Conference (20) than were presented at the FY08 Conference (15).
MARKETING SPECIALIST – The addition of a Marketing Specialist has enabled ACS to develop a more comprehensive marketing strategy.  It ensures that our Soldiers and Families will continuously receive the information they need to avail themselves of all ACS programs and services.  The Marketing Specialist is currently working on on-line registration for ACS classes.
FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM (FAP) SPECIALIST – The addition of FAP Specialist has increased ACS’s ability to provide programs and services to prevent domestic violence and child abuse/neglect and to promote healthy Families.  Examples of new initiatives include:  Courage Groups to address redeployment issues with children, Parenting for Single Soldiers, and Seven Habits of Highly Effective Military Families.
PROGRAM SUPPORT ASSISTANT – The addition of a Program Support Assistant has provided much needed relief for ACS Program Managers.  The administrative support this person provides enables the entire ACS to devote more time serving our Soldiers and Families.
INFORMATION AND REFERRAL (I & R)/RECEPTIONIST SERVICES – These services were previously provided by a contractor funded with Global War on Terror (GWOT) funds.  Converting this to a full time permanent position ensures that these critical services are not jeopardized by non-availability of funds issues. 
MOBILIZATION AND DEPLOYMENT SPECIALIST – We are recruiting for an individual to assist in providing deployment cycle support training and services.  This individual will also be the Unit Service Coordinator, providing a direct link between unit leaders and ACS.

Community Recreation - Army Family Covenant is providing our Soldiers with high adventure activities and live entertainment, but the entire community benefits. Family Morale Welfare and Recreation Command have selected Vicenza as a pilot site for the new Warrior Adventure Quest program. Longer and repeated deployments often lead to increased risky and destructive behavior. This program assists units in mitigating this behavior with high adventure activities provided through Outdoor Rec.

Outdoor Recreation is assisting in training Soldiers in these high adventure skills thru the pilot Warrior Adventure Quest Program, which includes purchase of an Inflatable Mega-dome for paintball and re-ball, 35 mountain bikes, plus unit whitewater excursions.

Sports & Fitness –is able to providing a goal oriented sports program for Soldiers, Civilians and Family Members. With Army Family Covenant Funds we are standardizing and increasing the quality of our strength and cardio exercise equipment with the purchase of new Adaptive Motion Trainers, Kettlebells, BOSU Balls, portable sound systems, aquatic equipment and pool deck furniture.

Commercial Entertainment- You may have noticed some top names in entertainment are coming to Vicenza lately. Through the regional entertainment program we have enjoyed free, live entertainment with popular groups such as:  Granger Smith, Crash Dance, Brian Stace, Custom Made, and Lil’ Jon. Still to come are the Volleyball Celebrities, Generation Beautiful and Off the Wall.

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