Abstract
The Department of Defense’s (DoD) administration of the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) presents significant barriers to mental health care access for military spouses and children. This paper explores how the EFMP, though designed to support military families with special needs, inadvertently creates barriers to mental health treatment. Military family members often do not seek mental health treatment to avoid the program's mandatory enrollment requirements. Military family members often view enrollment in the program undesirable because enrollment can restrict the pool of potential future duty assignment locations that are available to service members.
The lack of comprehensive data collection by the DoD regarding the mental health of EFMP participants obscures the full scope of the problem. The author’s proposed reforms include improving access to mental health providers through the subsidization of a mental health counselor education program, creating a telehealth mental health care application for military families, and adapting the EFMP requirement to allow family members with anxiety and depression to opt out of the EFMP if they prefer to manage their own care. By reexamining the EFMP's enrollment requirements and providing actionable solutions, this paper calls for the DoD to refine the program to better support military families’ mental health without compromising family members’ autonomy or privacy.
Recommended Citation
Christina Welch, How the DoD Discourages Military Families from Seeking Mental Health Counseling, 49 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 1041 (2026).
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