The Department of Defense announced this morning that it is reinstating the popular My Career Account program that provided up to $6000 of educational benefits to military spouses.  The program will resume this Saturday but only for those spouses who already part of the program.  New applicants won't be allowed until the Department of Defense develops a long range plan for, presumably, funding and administering the program.

Members of Blue Star Families worked hard to get the word out about how military spouses were being harmed by the abrupt halt of the MyCAA program, holding a roundtable with Congressman Glenn Nye (D-Va) of the Congressional Military Families Caucus.  The CMFC was instrumental in getting the program reinstated.  Congressman Glenn Nye says that Congress will continue to work with DoD to ensure that the program is available to all military spouses in the future.

Here is a news story from Channel 13 News in Hampton Roads about the resumption of the MyCAA program.  BSF member Chris Cowan talks about how the MyCAA program helps military spouses continue careers, despite the frequent moves required by the military life.

All those military spouses out there who fought for this program should pat themselves on the back!  You did this.  Together we can change the world.

Congressman Nye would like to hear from any spouses affected by the halt to the MyCAA program.  He can be reached at (757) 326-6201.  Blue Star Families is also collecting the stories of individual spouses to pass on to the Congressman and other elected officials.  To have your story heard, email Vivian at vgreentree@bluestarfam.org.

Never underestimate the military spouse.

That's just one thing I took away from a roundtable of military spouses led by Representative Glenn Nye (D-Va) of the House Armed Services Committee.  Rep. Nye organized the roundtable after Blue Star Families brought the abrupt halt of the MyCAA program to his attention earlier this week.

On February 16, 2010, the Department of Defense called a halt to the Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts, which provided qualifying military spouses with up to $6000 for degree programs, licenses or certifications leading to portable careers.  The program has been wildly popular.  Since March 2009, more than 136,000 military spouses have applied and 98,000 are now enrolled in courses or have been approved for the program.

Users of the MyCAA program were never officially notified by the DoD, in fact they still haven't been. Rather, most military spouses found out through the DoD press releases posted on social media forums like Facebook.  When the DoD initially halted the program, a press release stated that the program was being reevaluated and that military spouses already "approved" for the program would not be affected.  But spouses with "approved" MyCAA accounts found they were unable to access those funds and were told to seek alternative sources for funding. 

Last week I had the privilege of participating in a web radio discussion, Work/Life and the Military: What It’s Really Like to Work and Serve.  I was joined by host Katie Stanton from Fem 2.0, military blogger Liberal Army Wife and Diana Zuckerman, President of the National Research Center for Women an Families. 

The show was part of Fem 2.0's "Wake Up! This is the Reality" campaign to bring attention to the issues facing working families.

From the Fem 2.0 website:

Feminism 2.0 brings together the leadership of major women’s advocacy organizations and online women’s communities to further the connection between today’s issues and women’s voices. Feminism2.0 is intended for all women interested in better policy for women, families and society.

I was thrilled that Fem 2.0 was willing to tackle a frequently neglected demographic: the military family.

Our web radio conversation was long overdue and, I thought, quite informative.  As I wrote last week:

Work. Career,  Two incomes.

It's something that many people take for granted when the economy is booming.  Many of us rely on a second salary in the family to pay the bills or to have even a hope of saving for the future.  But what happens when the economy is in trouble, jobs are scarce, and you have to move every two years?  What happens when you move to a new city across the country or overseas, your spouse is deployed and you can't find quality day care so you can get back to work?

Welcome to the world of the military spouse.

According to Rand studies in 2002 and 2004, military spouses are employed at much lower rates than their civilian counterparts and they make less money for the same work.  These differences hold true even when accounting for education (milspouses have slightly more education than their civilian counterparts), age (milspouses are younger), and location (milspouses are more likely to live near major metropolitan areas).  Moreover, because military spouses are younger, they are much more likely to have young children at home.  

Work. Career,  Two incomes.

It's something that many people take for granted when the economy is booming.  Many of us rely on a second salary in the family to pay the bills or to have even a hope of saving for the future.  But what happens when the economy is in trouble, jobs are scarce, and you have to move every two years?  What happens when you move to a new city across the country or overseas, your spouse is deployed and you can't find quality day care so you can get back to work?

Welcome to the world of the military spouse.

Join Blue Star Families for a blog radio program with Fem 2.0 on Wednesday, April 3rd at 1pm.  For the last two weeks, Fem 2.0 has been getting into the nitty gritty of balancing work and family.  This week, they're tackling an often forgotten class of women: the military spouse.

Join host Katie Stanton, Director of New Media for Blue Star Families, Stephanie Himel-Nelson, blogger Liberal Army Wife, and the President of the National Research Center for Women and Families, Diana Zuckerman for the program Work/Life and the Military: What It’s Really Like to Work and Serve.

From the Fem 2.0 website:

Military families are just like other families. Soldiers and their spouses are often are dealing with same work/life issues as everyone else, like wage gaps, caregiving, sick leave and more. But imagine dealing with these issues when you and/or your spouse are stationed overseas and serving in often dangerous situations for months or years at a time. Imagine being separated from your loved ones and still being expected to handle the day-to-day. Imagine being uprooted with little to no warning and moving to an unknown city or country, over and over again, and still having to provide for yourself and your family. Three experts who are passionate about military families and the difficulties they face will tell the whole story on what life is really like, how this kind of living affects men, women and children, and what can be done to help.