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Community Site Visits: Hearing first-hand from Canadian Forces families

As informative as surveys and statistics can be, sometimes there’s nothing quite as powerful as a real conversation.

At Director Military Family Services (DMFS), we’ve decided to go back to the basics to learn more about local Canadian Forces (CF) communities. Through Community Site Visits, members of the Field Operations Team at DMFS are travelling to CF bases across the country and around the world to sit down and talk about which services work well, what challenges communities face, and what changes could be made to make each location a more family-friendly, supportive place to live.

Prior to January 2010, Director Military Family Services conducted Formal Site Visits to meet with Canadian/Military Family Resource Centre (C/MFRC) staff and participants. Working in cooperation with the local Commanding Officer, Community Site Visits have expanded upon this model to include formal meetings with other family service delivery partners, and a Community Conversation that’s just for CF family members.

“Community Site Visits are designed to welcome feedback from all members of the Canadian Forces community,” says Alla Ivask, National Manager Military Family Services. “They are providing DMFS with a more complete picture of the local services available to families from a variety of sources, rather than focusing solely on the C/MFRC.”

Thus far, DMFS has conducted Community Site Visits at 23 CF locations across the country, in the US and in Europe, with more visits scheduled throughout the year. The Community Conversations have allowed hundreds of CF family members to have their voices heard, including spouses, parents, siblings, children, CF personnel, and dual service couples.

Some Community Conversations have been attended by over 90 people, and some by fewer than 10, but the resounding feedback given by CF families has often been similar. Families have wonderful things to say about the close-knit nature of CF communities, and they also have ideas to share on making their local cities and towns better places to live, work and raise their families. Frequently, the top challenges raised have been access to mental health services, child care, and health care.

The meetings DMFS has conducted with service delivery partners have also been very fruitful. DMFS has met with representatives from SISIP Financial Services, PSP, Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS), the Joint Speakers Bureau, the Canadian Forces Members Assistance Program (CFMAP) and various civilian family services partners. These front line service professionals have been able to enlighten DMFS about the trends they’ve observed as they serve CF families, and the local services they feel need enhancement.

“DMFS is very grateful to all of the Commanding Officers, partners and families who have supported this initiative,” says Alla. “Having this information will help us create policies, services and resources which are increasingly responsive and accountable to the community members they are designed to serve.”

The reports generated from Community Site Visits will be shared with the Commanding Officer of each CF base, and the appropriate environmental representative. The results of the Community Site Visit reports will also help shape DMFS’ understanding of the systemic issues and top priorities for CF communities, which will then be shared with the relevant policy holder within DND/CF and the National Military Family Council.

For more information about Community Site Visits, please contact your local Field Operations Manager.