When the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic first hit the United States earlier this year, the Fleet and Family Support Centers (FFSC) at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Hampton Roads Portsmouth and Northwest Annexes quickly adapted to the ever-evolving situation so that they could continue to provide support services to military members and their families.
“Our services are vital to the Navy community so we felt it was important to continue the same level of services while ensuring the health and safety of staff and clients,” said Elizabeth Bell, Site Director for the FFSCs at NSA Hampton Roads. “As we navigated through the pandemic, we transitioned to mostly virtual services. We are committed to providing high quality programs and services either in person or virtually. Making the transition to virtual services can be challenging but the staff took on those challenges with the same level of commitment and enthusiasm. We have an awesome team and I am very proud of their conscientiousness and commitment to the Navy community.”
The FFSC provides programs and services to promote the quality of life for military personnel and their families. They offer free programs and services to include parenting and life skills, financial programs, deployment assistance, relocation assistance, counseling and victim assistance, and many more.
At the onset of the pandemic, the FFSC remained open but with reduced services conducted via telephone and virtually. There were also staff members who remained on site to handle crisis situations.
With the FFSC typically operating in a customer service oriented environment, curtailing services and reducing the face-to-face interaction soon became a new normal for the staff members.
Lori Thomas, Work and Family Life Program Lead, adapted to her new work lifestyle and continued to provide government oversight on all Work and Family Life Programs at FFSC.
“During these unprecedented times, all of us at the Fleet and Family Support Center are committed to providing the most recent and relevant information to support our military community,” she said. “We quickly transitioned to a virtual support center, ensuring that our services, classes and resources were not interrupted, but just delivered differently.”
Thomas and her FFSC colleagues are currently operating under a distributed workforce where they stagger staff on site and those personnel who telework.
“My Work and Family Life Team has made an easy transition to delivering improved services, webinars and virtual command training,” she said.
Thomas and her team have also implemented new services and programs that will assist families trying to navigate during these unprecedented times.
“We consistently deliver new services and programs based on the needs of service members and families, in a variety of innovative ways,” she said. “We do this by providing classes, training, information, and resources to tackle military lifestyle challenges.”
Because of the pandemic, many families have dealt with ongoing stressors about finances, their mental and physical health, lack of social interaction, and uncertainty about the future.
“Significant change and uncertainty can increase stress and anxiety, so managing these feelings, as well as self-care, are extremely important. The lack of managing them can morph into isolation, depression and other issues,” said Thomas. “We encourage our military and family members to reach out to us and/or attend our fabulous webinars for support and information.”
Providing support and resources is also a mission of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program (SAPR).
“We have successfully continued supporting victims of sexual assault telephonically during COVID-19. Victims still have access to the Emergency Department to receive medical treatment and a forensic exam,” said Kevin Meynardie, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC). “Our Victim Advocates are still available 24/7 to assist victims telephonically with their rights and reporting options and provide the full range of resources, and emotional support.”
As the SARC, Meynardie oversees the implementation and execution of all elements of the Installation SAPR Program, to include prevention, awareness, and response to survivors of sexual assault, supported command personnel, and other SAPR stakeholders. He also ensures comprehensive victim services are provided through a coordinated community response.
That may seem challenging to accomplish without being able to see the customers in person.
“Although we continue to provide exceptional support telephonically, one of the challenges we have faced during COVID-19 is not being able to meet with clients face-to-face,” said Meynardie.
That lack of personal interaction has also been difficult for families during this time.
“By nature we are all social beings and I think it has really impacted some people’s mental health,” said Meynardie. “I encourage anyone to reach out to a mental health professional in the hospital or a FFSC counselor to help them process their emotions during this very difficult time.”
Although SAPR has not had to implement any new services or programs due to the pandemic, there is a system to better assist victims.
“[Commander, Navy Installations Command] has helped develop a new 2910, victim reporting preference statement, that gives victims the ability to fill out the form, choose a restricted or unrestricted report and then sign it on their mobile device,” he said.
Jazmin Turk, Advocacy Clinical Counselor, has also been able to provide continuous services with the Counseling Advocacy Program at FFSC.
“As a clinical counselor, I do individual and couples counseling with Sailors and their adult family members focusing on a variety of issues such as stress management, grief, relationship discord, and problems adjusting to life changes, including crisis counseling,” she said. “I am also a Family Advocacy Program Case Manager (FAP CM). As a FAP CM, I provide support to families experiencing issues with domestic violence and/or child abuse/neglect.”
Like Thomas and Meynardie, Turk has been able to support military members and their families with services in different ways due to COVID-19. However, that is sometimes difficult due to not having that typical face-to-face contact.
“I think one challenge unique to the counseling experience is building connections with clients via telephone,” she said. “Counseling requires people to talk to a stranger about sensitive topics, and for some it can be difficult to do this with a person that they have never seen.”
Even with this disadvantage, Turk has worked hard to ensure that she can be that outlet for those individuals who need it the most.
“I think the biggest issue Navy families are dealing with is the issue we are all dealing with – isolation. Sailors and family members I have talked to report fewer stress relief outlets, decreased ability to engage in preferred enjoyable activities, and limited ability to see or connect with family and friends,” she said.
That is why the services that the FFSC provides, whether they are virtual or telephonic, is so essential to the military community right now.
“As a team we have worked to be equally, if not more, available given the current pandemic and related stressors,” said Turk.
In the midst of a global pandemic, the Fleet and Family Support Center has demonstrated that they can continue to provide the support and services to the military community that will enhance their quality of life, just through different methods.
“Families are impacted by this pandemic in every facet of the lives. Our programs are designed to support all parts of the Sailor and their families’ life,” said Bell. “The Navy must continue operations even during these stressful times and we are ready to provide that support. Our mission is to provide the supportive services necessary for the Navy to stay mission ready during this pandemic and beyond.”
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2020 16:08 |
| Story ID: | 375348 |
| Location: | VA, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fleet and Family Support Center continues to provide service to the military community throughout COVID-19, by Katisha Draughn-Fraguada, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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