JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In today's Stories of Service, we're talking about help that is available for Jacksonville's military families.
First Coast News went to Naval Station Mayport to speak with Gregory Tanner, program liaison for the Exceptional Family Member Program.
Enrollment in EFMP provides military families assistance with any medical or educational needs they may have, especially when transferring between different duty stations.
He told us about some of the needs that are supported through EFMP.
"One of them is for children, autism, or we say autism spectrum disorder is on the rise," Tanner said. "So, we can actually step in to assist the families with applied behavior analysis. We can assist them and put them in touch with the community resource for that."
First Class Petty Officer Gregory Bushman's family is enrolled in the program. He told us about what it means for his family.
"We have some medical and developmental, like educational stuff for some of our kids," Bushman said. "So being transferred and knowing that there's going to be a medical professional there that can take care of what that requires -- It's helpful."
About 2,000 families are enrolled in the program, which is available for any military service member in the area, regardless of which branch or base they are a part of.
"So that means that any military branch can come into Naval Station Mayport's Fleet and Family Support Center, and I can assist any military service member with the enrollment process and the resources and services needed for that particular family," Tanner said.
If you have a story of service to share, email us at StoriesOfService@firstcoastnews.com.