USC CIR – News

Op-Ed: Will candidates let returning troops fall off the fiscal cliff?

Op-Ed by Ron Avi Astor

With the presidential race heading into its final stretch, both candidates vow to protect the sacred promises made to military families. But neither is offering any details on how they might support military families if we hit a fiscal cliff with budget cuts that could wipe out services for military and veterans’ families.

Month after month, in the midst of a heated presidential and congressional pre-election cycle, we see no organized blueprint to integrate millions of military family members into civilian society.

Since 2001, more than 2 million troops have returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. […]

New books guide schools in supporting military families

by Maya Meinert

The Building Capacity in Military-Connected Schools project, a partnership between the USC School of Social Work and eight public school districts working to create sustainable models of supportive schools, will release four guidebooks Oct. 1 with the goal of bridging the military and civilian divide in K-12 schools.

The books, which will be published by Teachers College Press at Columbia University and the Military Child Education Coalition, are each written for different audiences: parents, teachers, principals and pupil personnel. The purpose of the books is to empower staff, students and parents to use evidence-based practices to improve school climate […]