Blue Star Families' provides essential support for the veteran and their family members during the transition phase from active duty to civilian life. Without this family support, the veteran may experience difficulties enrolling in, or staying in, the MSSA program. While the veteran takes advantage of the MSSA training, Blue Star Families supports the spouse and other family members, in areas like military spouse career programming and other peer to peer resources.
Research shows that veterans transitioning from active duty to civilian life benefit significantly when their spouse is employed full-time during the transition period. - greater financial stability, decreased stress, and improved relationship quality due to the psychological benefits of pursuing interests outside of the home. We also know some service members rely on that second income in order to enrol in, and complete, the MSSA cohort (MSSA has transitioning service members that do get out of the service while in class - which means a paycheck goes away - and veterans that need to stop work in order to take the 17 week SCA or CAD cohort.) Blue Star Families' career programming becomes even more crucial when we recognize that military spouses are more likely to be unemployed than their civilian counterparts, mostly due to constant moves and a lack of networks in their local community. Peer to peer resources and extensive network help address those challenges.
The full breakdown on page 57 of the 2017 report is here: https://bluestarfam.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MFLS-ComprehensiveRep...
