The following management tools are available for download and printing by children and youth program service providers to help conduct and promote their programs. Upgrades for Acrobat Reader software are available at no charge at Adobe.com.

Department of Defense

Caring for Kids after Trauma and Death: A Guide for Parents and Professionals This guide, developed by the Institute for Trauma and Stress, provides comprehensive insights and suggestions on how school professionals, mental health and family program service providers, and parents can help children facing trauma and death.

Department of Defense Special Needs Parent Toolkit The Department of Defense Special Needs Parent Toolkit is designed to assist service providers in training and assisting military families and leadership to understand and cope with the challenges that face families with special needs.

Department of Defense/Youth Sponsorship Toolkit The Department of Defense/Youth Sponsorship Toolkit provides installations with a basic step-by-step outline to assist in getting a successful Youth Sponsorship Program started. The toolkit includes resources that serve as road maps to planning and implementation, and is designed to be used collaboratively by service providers, youth, schools and youth-serving installation agencies.

Educator’s Guide to the Military Child During Deployment This guide, sponsored by the Department of Defense Educational Opportunities Directorate, is designed to assist educators in supporting military children during a parent’s deployment.

Little Listeners in an Uncertain World: Coping Strategies for You and Your Child During Deployment or When a Crisis Occurs This downloadable pamphlet, published by ZERO TO THREE, is designed to help military families understand how separation and deployment affect young children.

Parent’s Guide to the Military Child During Deployment and Reunion This guide, sponsored by the Department of Defense Educational Opportunities Directorate, is designed to assist parents in supporting their children during a deployment.

Other Guides

Sesame Workshop “Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployment, Homecoming, Changes” Sesame Workshop, the makers of Sesame Street, released a video workshop in 2008 that aimed to aid children in understanding and untangling the complex emotions many feel in the midst of a parent’s tour of duty away from home. This video, a follow-up to Sesame Workshop’s previous military video, “When Parents are Deployed,” broaches the difficult subject of dealing with a parent’s debilitating war injury.

The “So Far” Guide for Helping Children and Youth Cope with the Deployment of a Parent in the Military reserves This guide, published by the Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists (SOFAR), is designed to assist families of Reserve Component service members with young children in dealing with deployment and separation.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has created informational booklets, Traumatic Grief in Military Children, to be used by educators and medical providers to better serve military children who have suffered a loss and who may be experiencing traumatic grief.