Exceptional Family Member Program helps those in need

Courtesy Photo | Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donald Culp spends time with his Family before a deployment. Culp was an active duty service member whose daughter, Braelyn, benefited from the Exceptional Family Member Program. EFMP is a mandatory program that helps Soldiers with special needs children obtain any care or treatment they may need. (Courtesy Photo)  

FORT JACKSON, SC, UNITED STATES

03.11.2020

Courtesy Story

Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office

By Taylor Marie Smith
Fort Jackson Leader

The Exceptional Family Member Program provides support to all active duty service members that have Family members with special needs. EFMP helps Families identify and access programs such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, among other services. For active-duty members, enrollment is mandatory; Families not enrolled in EFMP will be referred to the program by EFMP Family support.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donald Culp of 4th Battalion Support Element, Army Reserve Careers Division, is a service member who used EFMP while on active duty.

“When I was in flight school at Fort Rucker (Alabama) my daughter was 6 months old and she started having seizures,” Culp said. “She was diagnosed with a chromosomal deletion.”

“While treating her at Lyster Army Health Clinic on Fort Rucker, providers suggested that we talk to EFMP. They quickly helped us maximize the benefits of therapy for my daughter,” Culp said.

Culp was assigned to Fort Jackson three years ago.

“When we moved to Fort Jackson, my wife got in contact with the installation’s EFMP,” Culp said. “They set us up with therapists almost immediately. The therapists even came out to our house.”

Culp suggests that all service members with special needs Family members talk to their post’s EFMP coordinator to get set up with the program and get any questions they may have answered.

“I just want to bring awareness to EFMP,” he added. “If the provider on Fort Rucker hadn’t mentioned it, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Brandi Palmer, Fort Jackson’s EFMP Coordinator, said “We’re trying to generate more awareness for everything that we have to offer, not just the fact that we’re a mandatory program. We help with education issues and have recreational support groups. Not a lot of Soldiers know we offer those services.”

Culp also started the Braelyn Aubrey Foundation in honor of his daughter, who passed away in 2012. It is dedicated to improving education, wellness, and quality of life for those with impairing conditions. The foundation is holding the first Braelyn Aubrey Foundation 5K run April 18.

Visit https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Exceptional%20Family%20Member%20Program to learn more about the Exceptional Family Member Program and all the benefits it has to offer.

• Date Taken: 03.11.2020
• Date Posted: 03.12.2020 11:48
• Story ID: 365049
• Location: FORT JACKSON, SC, US