Exceptionally Sunny Series: EFMP, EDIS hosts weeklong camps

Photo By Cpl. Brianna Christensen | Sarah Harrell helps children participating in the Exceptionally Sunny Series camp with a crafts project at the Kishaba Youth Center at Camp Foster June 25. Harrell is the training and outreach specialist for the exceptional family member program.  

CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JAPAN

06.25.2012

Courtesy Story

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP FOSTER — The exceptional family member program and the educational and developmental intervention services program hosted the 4th annual Exceptionally Sunny Series camps June 25 through July 20.

The purpose of the series is to provide children an opportunity to participate in group activities, which promote skills helpful for academics, socialization and fitness. Both of the programs work with special-needs children.

“The camp gives families with special-needs children a chance to relax,” said Sarah Harrell, the training and outreach specialist for EFMP. “These children are used to a daily routine. When they are thrown into the summer months that routine is broken, and our camp allows them a routine for one week out of the summer.”

The weeklong camp allows children to engage in activities that promote social interaction, self expression, emotional growth and cultural enrichment within a safe and nurturing environment.

“The summer months can be daunting for families with special-needs children,” said Harrell. “The kids can come to our camps and be themselves.”

During the week, the children made sand dollar necklaces and 3-D fish bowls, worked with clay, planted seeds, and painted posters as a part of the camp’s extensive sensory definition program.

“The (camps) offered by EDIS and EFMP are fantastic for the children,” said Tracye K. Patton, the mother of Brennon C. Patton, a child participating in the camp. “The counselor with EDIS was very helpful with Brennon.”

The exceptional family member program is designed to help Marines ensure the continuum of care for family members with special needs. Its primary purpose is to provide coordination and support throughout the assignment process, ensuring the availability and accessibility of needed services for the family while meeting the mission of the Corps, according to Marine Corps Community Services.

An exceptional family member is defined as an authorized family member, a spouse, child, stepchild, adopted child, foster child or dependent parent, who is enrolled in the defense enrollment eligibility reporting system and residing with the sponsor, unless the sponsor is on an unaccompanied assignment. The EFM must possess continued specialized needs in areas such as physical, intellectual or emotional disability that requires medical or educational services.

The mission of EDIS is to provide early intervention and related services assigned to the military medical departments overseas to eligible military and civilian children and their families, according to its mission statement.

The service seeks to maximize the potential of children who are identified as having or being at risk and assist in their development. EDIS promotes family-based care, closely involving families in the development of treatment plans.

The Exceptionally Sunny Series has camps remaining at Camp McTureous, July 9-13, and Camp Kinser, July 16-20.

For more information on the Exceptionally Sunny Series or other EFMP inquiries, call 645-9237.

• Date Taken: 06.25.2012
• Date Posted: 06.29.2012 00:59
• Story ID: 90815
• Location: CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JP