Children and adolescents in ADF families face a unique series of challenges.
They experience parental absence due to deployments or exercises, and major changes in their lives with frequent relocations. This requires continued adaptation to change, altered routines (such as new schools) and re-establishing social networks.
To help reduce the impacts of relocation and parental absence on ADF children and build on their strengths, DMFS:
• provides a range of education assistance
• increases the availability of childcare to mobile ADF families
• employs EDLOs, specialist staff who advise families and schools on education issues and ADF student wellbeing
• positions ADF School Mentors in schools to help ADF students integrate into new schools
• produces information and resources for parents to help children develop strategies to deal with the challenges of ADF life
• provides regional education information for relocating families
• has a range of products for children to build on their self-reliance and positive experience of ADF life including toys, books and online videos. DMFS provides information on resources available for children which may assist in building their self-reliance and positive experience of ADF life
• offers ADF Aware to build the capacity of schools and educators to support children with the impacts of ADF life
• delivers ADF Equip program designed to support the social and emotional resilience and wellbeing of children with ADF parents
• delivers KidSMART and TeenSMART fun and interactive resilience building programs for children