History
Why Focus Was Developed
In the United States today, about 1.2 million children have an active duty military parent. In the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, about 40% of service members have at least one dependent child under the age of 18. Throughout all the branches of the U.S. military, children are affected by a recent or current deployment of a parent to the combat zones of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Wartime deployment takes a toll on both the service member and family members on the homefront, with multiple deployments often causing additional stress. Research on parents with stress reactions has demonstrated that such difficulties interfere with parenting, family life, and child adjustment across a range of contexts, disrupting family roles and routines, and decreasing support within the family. To date, thousands of military service members, their children and families are at risk and stand to benefit from family-centered resiliency training.
How Focus Was Developed
The growing awareness of the significant impact of deployments on military family life and child and family well-being prompted a new initiative from the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Department of the Navy and the United States Marine Corps.
In 2007, the Defense Health Board Task Force on Mental Health identified a critical need for prevention and intervention services to foster resiliency within military families.
FOCUS is founded on leading evidenced-based family intervention models for at-risk families which have demonstrated positive emotional, behavioral, and adaptive outcomes for families over time.