Photo By Crystal Farris | Members of the Idaho National Guard Child and Youth Program participate in the annual...... read more read more
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With more than 10,000 military youth in Idaho, the Idaho National Guard recognizes the necessity to provide service members with family support. To meet these needs, it offers a substantial amount of benefits through its Child and Youth Services program.
Currently only a few hundred military youth participate in the program, partly because not all families are aware of the benefits, said Melissa-Jo Harger, lead child and youth coordinator for the Idaho National Guard.
“There are so many kids out there, we are just trying to figure out how to get to all of them,” Harger said. “Whatever resources we can offer to all the branches for their youth, we are happy and open to doing so.”
The program is available to children 18 and younger who have a parent, sibling or legal guardian serving on Active Duty or in the National Guard and Reserves. Children of retired service members with 20 or more years of service are also eligible.
The program offers resource referral, youth development, advocacy, student support and service learning, although the specific resources available to each child depend on their age.
Designed to assist military youth in development, the program teaches resiliency and life skills while providing a fun and safe environment. Throughout the year, youth have the opportunity to partake in various programs and projects where they network with members of the community and socialize with other children whose parents also serve in the military.
“A lot of the program is building those resiliency skills and comradery with other youth who are going through the same thing,” said Harger. “Some kids have service members deployed or have lost a service member. Other kids are just going through a hard time and not getting the support they need through their schools.”
The program’s foundation is built upon understanding the needs of military youth, where everyone in the program shares that common ground. Civilian programs and schools may not understand or relate to military youth on the same level, said Harger, however the program often connects with local schools and community partners to provide them with useful resources to support in that awareness.
Various projects designed by staff and youth throughout the year give individuals the opportunities to travel both in and outside the state to participate in events such as summer and winter camps, regional youth group and teen retreats, leadership training and holiday festivities.
Youth groups are available in Boise, West Idaho and Idaho Falls for children 10 and older looking for more active roles in the program. There they get to further comradery while contributing to monthly event planning for occasions such as this year’s Halloween trunk-or-treat or the Easter egg hunt in March. Additionally, they get involved with community service projects, such as donating games to local hospitals and clothes to foster children.
The program had a youth group in Post Falls until recently when they lost its group advisor. The program plans to establish two more locations in Lewiston and Twin Falls in the future, pending volunteer availability. Adults can get involved with the program by volunteering to participate as youth group advisors or camp chaperones.
For youth 14 and older, the leadership program is available to help in developing individual and leadership skills. Program leadership serve the needs of both the program and its youth, with the added perk of participating in special out-of-state events. In August, five youth leaders travelled to Alaska for one week, where they learned about program planning and goal setting.
Leaders can also apply to be teen counselors during the summer and winter camping events. As counselors they gain more responsibility and an opportunity to give back to the program, which is something most of them look forward to, said Harger.
“A lot of these kids have grown up in the program,” said Harger. “They are experienced in what military kids go through and what the military youth in our state need. It comes back to them offering support to their peers and I think every one of them in the leadership program would say that is something the program did for them.”
Harger said military youth involved in the program gain an appreciation for the support and tools it provides them. The program sees a handful of prior members join different branches of service every year upon graduating high school, such as prior youth program leader Kassi Brown.
“Kassi Brown joined the Army Guard and is in advanced individual training right now,” said Harger. Her dream wasn’t necessarily to be a Guardsman, it was to be a nurse, but she felt in her last year that she really wanted to give back to the organization that made her who she is.”
The program has a lot of upcoming events to include decorating a float for the Meridian Winter Lights Parade in December, the annual winter camp snow bash in January and the Boise state leadership conference in February.
Registration ends Dec. 8 for the winter ‘snow bash’ camp event. Campers will travel to Cascade Jan. 12 to 15 where they will participate in sledding, building snow caves, arts and crafts, games and a camp dance.
Individuals interested in attending camp must first be enrolled in the Child and Youth Program. The program and all events are free once enrolled.
Although families are encouraged to start their children in the youth groups, camps are a great place for new program participants to experience what the program is about and to have lots of fun, said Harger.
The Child and Youth Program is one of many programs available through the Idaho National Guard Family Programs. Others include the Family Assistant Center, Family Readiness Support Assistants, Military and Family Life Consultants and the Idaho Guard and Reserve Family Support Fund. Each contributes collectively to providing an enhanced quality of life and resiliency for military service members of all branches and their families.
“I don’t think people sometimes realize how important a strong resilient family is to the service member,” said Lt. Col. Douglass Uphoff, state family programs director for the Idaho National Guard. “Our view is if the service member’s family is taken care of, then they can focus more on their job.”
For more information about the Idaho National Guard Family Programs, visit www.nationalguard.idaho.gov/FamilyPrograms/.
| Date Taken: | 11.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.22.2017 12:34 |
| Story ID: | 256318 |
| Location: | BOISE, ID, US |
| Web Views: | 346 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Idaho National Guard Youth program benefits military children through camp, travel, mentorship, by Crystal Farris, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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