MIC3 Step-by-Step Checklist-Resolve School Issues with the Interstate Compact

This resource shows you specific steps to take to resolve school issues for your child, using the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children.  It gives you contact information for people who can help you with different situations covered by the Compact. 

The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children (“the Compact”) is an agreement among all 50 States and the District of Columbia to address certain school transition issues for military children consistently, from State to State. It’s often known by the acronym MIC3 (“mick-three”), which stands for Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission, after the commission responsible for designing it and getting it passed as legislation. The Compact applies to a student if he or she is a school-aged child enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade, when their parent is a(n):

  • Active-duty member of the uniformed services, including members of the National Guard and Reserve on active-duty orders (Title 10)
  • Member or veteran for one year following medical discharged or retirement
  • Member who died on active duty, for one year after the death
  • Uniformed member of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and United States Public Health Services (USPHS)

What Does the Compact Helps With?

The Compact provides uniform policy guidance for how States respond to the most common challenges highly mobile military families experience, including:

  1. Temporarily accepting unofficial school records for enrollment and conditional placement
  2. Requiring schools to transfer official school records within ten (10) business days with adaptations in specific situations
  3. Starting ages for kindergarten and first grade
  4. Continuing Special Education, Accommodations and Modifications following a move
  5. Waiving State-specific course requirements to avoid repeating courses
  6. Getting the right program or course placement
  7. Accepting specific testing alternatives in place of those required for graduation in the receiving state
  8. Allowing a student to complete their diploma through the sending school while finishing their education at the receiving school
  9. Requiring that schools make a reasonable effort to ensure that eligible students can take part in extra-curricular activities
  10. Excusing absences related to deployment activities

What are My Responsibilities as a Parent?

Make sure you have completed your responsibilities under the Compact before you try to apply it to your student’s situation.

  1. Gather and provide a copy of your student’s basic document package, including:
  2. Birth certificate
  3. Shot record (immunizations)
  4. Letter or transcript from the sending school showing attendance, academic information, and grade placement
  5. Official military orders
  6. Family Care Plan or proof of guardianship if the child lives with another family member or legal guardian
  7. Add any extra records related to a specific issue. If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), or a Section 504 or ADA Title II plan, include this in the documents package.  Keep paper copies of the plan or program, service agreements, evaluations and progress reports, as well as records from non-school sources.
  8. Make copies of all documents and never give away your last copy. Hand-carry the entire documents package to the receiving school.
  9. Read the Compact to understand what it does and does not do.  The Parent Guide provides an overview of the Compact and the Compact Rules contain the full policy document to guide how the Compact applies to a situation.
  10. Know who to contact for help resolving a conflict with an issue covered by the Compact. (See Steps 2 and 3, below)

Step-by-Step Suggestions for Using the Compact

Step 1: Try to resolve the issue at the school level. 

Contact your child’s school principal or other top-level school administrator.  You can usually find email information on your child’s school or district website, or you can call the school’s front office.

Keep a written record of what happens. To have a record, either contact by email, or if you speak to them in person or by phone, send a follow-up email or letter (keep a copy of the letter). When you get a response, keep the response email or letter. Keep all emails or letters about this issue in the folder or binder where you keep all your child’s school records and information.

Here are some things to include in the letter or email:

  • Describe the issue
  • State that your child is covered by the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children
  • Describe what you have already done (provided documents, called the school, etc.)
  • Ask the school to resolve the issue
  • Ask for a response by email or by letter
  • Attach a copy of or link to the Compact rules document
  • Attach copies of your child’s basic document package and any additional information needed

Step 2: If the issue is not fixed by the school’s principal or top administrator, contact either your Parent Center (for issues about special education, supports and services, Section 504 or ADA Title II Plan) or School Liaison for help. They are familiar with the process and can connect with the most useful staff to resolve your child’s situation.

Parent Centers are federally funded organizations in each State, District of Columbia, and US Territories. They work with families of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities, birth to 26. They will provide you with state-specific training and information, so you can resolve issues relating to your child’s disabilities. Parent Centers can help you whether your child attends a public school or a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school.

School Liaisons connect students and families with information, resources and people. They are the point of contact between an installation’s military families and local schools and school districts. They are experts in the complications that can come up during a PCS to a new duty station.

Step 3: If the issue continues despite involving your Parent Center and/or School Liaison, contact your MIC3 State Commissioner.  The State Commissioner is responsible for knowing their state’s compact statute.  They assist in informal dispute resolution between military families, school districts, and others involved.  To locate your  State Commissioner’s contact information, click on your state in the interactive map

More Assistance and Information:

MIC3 contact form to request help with a school issue

Find Compact legislation in your state

OSEP Letter to State Directors of Special Education on Ensuring a High-Quality Education for Highly Mobile Children (Policy Support 22-02)

Purple Up! Celebrating the Month of the Military Child

A Brief Overview

  • Month of the Military Child (MOMC) is a chance to show your support for military-connected children and youth.
  • Purple symbolizes military children from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.
  • Wear purple (Purple Up!) during April to show your support for military children, especially on April 15th, National Purple Up Day.

April, the Month of the Military Child, celebrates military-connected children and youth. They show an ability to adapt in the face of unique challenges. They make sacrifices while their service members protect our nation’s safety.

Purple is the official color of the military child. It’s a combination of all the colors of the U.S. Armed Force: Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard blues, Army green, and Marine Corps red. Programs and activities that are similar across all branches of service are called “purple.”

Wear purple to show your support and appreciation for what they do!

History of Month of the Military Child

In 1986, former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger created the first Month of the Military Child. This annual April tradition became a nationally recognized celebration of military children’s resiliency when faced with stressful situations, such as frequent moves, long separations from deployed family members, living in foreign countries, and adapting to different schools.

In 2011, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Military Youth and Family Program began Purple Up! For Military Kids. It’s a specific day to wear purple as visible support for military-connected children during Month of the Military Child. States, local governments, and Department of Defense programs celebrate Purple Up days on various dates during April. National Purple Up Day is April 15th.

Military Children in Our Communities

A Department of Defense 2020 Demographics Report* showed 1,621,473 military children in Active Duty and Selected Reserve families across the world. Washington State has 40,881 military-connected children and youth between birth and eighteen years of age. Military-connected children are neighbors. Many of them live and go to school near military installations. If their service member is in the National Guard or other reserves, they may live anywhere!

Military children come from many different backgrounds. Being in the military is different for each family. Differences are as typical of military life as similar experiences.

Author Lynn K. Hall said, “The defining word for the military family is change; change is what their lives are about.”  On average, military families move every two to three years. Military children change schools an average of six to nine times between kindergarten and their high school graduation. Despite frequent changes, military children show remarkable resiliency like the dandelion plant.

Dandelions are the official flower of the military child. They take root and bloom wherever they are planted. Dandelion seeds fly on the wind to destinations all over the globe. Dandelions symbolize happiness, joy, perseverance, endurance, and hope – traits shown by military children.

Show Your Support for Military Children

Thank military children for their sacrifices and recognize their courage during Month of the Military Child.
Families and individuals can:

  • Organize or take a group picture with everyone wearing purple to share on social media with the hashtags #PurpleUp or #MOMC.
  • Use any of the ideas and resources below for businesses and schools.
  • Look up WA State Veterans organizations on the internet and social media. They will often post local events supporting and celebrating military-connected children.
  • Military installations often post MOMC events on their social media pages. You may be able to go, volunteer, or share on your pages.

Businesses can add a temporary banner or image to their website or social media pages. Find images and text at the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission’s (MIC3) website.

Parent-School associations and school staff can celebrate military-connected students by:

  • Wearing a purple ribbon and inviting military children to share their experiences within their comfort levels.
  • Encouraging other students to “purple up” at a specified team practice or event.
  • Mentioning Purple Up Day in the morning announcements, school message boards, and bulletin boards throughout the campus.
  • Using a world map in the classroom to pinpoint where students have traveled, including highly mobile military students.
  • Sending a letter home to all parents inviting them to provide a baby picture for a hallway or corridor “Guess Who” display of military children.

You might use suggestions from the Military Child Education Coalition and Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3).

Go to a STOMP (Specialized Training of Military Parents) workshop or webinar to learn more about supporting military children in the classroom, community, and medical settings. Share about STOMP, a program of PAVE, as a resource to educate and empower military parents of children with special needs.

* Published by the Department of Defense and Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy (ODASD (MC&FP).

Resources:

STOMP has developed printable worksheets in honor of the Month of the Military Child:

  • Finding Your Tribe: a questionnaire to help children make friends and develop community after a move.
  • PCS Bingo: a tool to help a relocating family get to know their new community, one adventure at a time!
  • Friendships Across the Miles: activities for maintaining close friendships wherever military life takes you.
  • Sound Your Cadence Call: a worksheet for developing an individualized, confidence-boosting cadence.

The Air Force School Liaison Program provides 50 Ways to Celebrate Month of the Military Child.

Military Child Education Coalition and Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) release updated toolkits for the Month of the Military Child every year.

Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)

The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) is a mandatory* Department of Defense program that helps military dependents with special needs. The Coast Guard, which operates under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security has a similar program called the Special Needs Program, or SNP.

* EFMP is mandatory, primarily so a family member’s needs may be considered during the duty assignment process. However, some families do not enroll because they believe the program requirements are not worth the benefits to them, or they perceive the program as limiting the service member’s duty assignment options, and thus his or her career.

EFMP Family Support staff, along with an installation’s School Liaison, are the primary points of contact for parent centers for holding installation-based trainings, access to meet with families on installations, and insider information about installation support programs and family engagement.

Note: although the purpose of the EFMP and the SNP are the same across all branches of service, there are some differences with names, procedures, and forms. There are also differences by installation, such as the availability of respite care providers and funding.

EFMP Functions

  • Identification and enrollment is a collaborative effort among military-connected health care providers and EFMP staff:
    • Example: a child is identified as having a particular disability by the family’s regular medical provider who refers the family to the EFMP enrollment office.
  • Military duty assignment coordination: once a family member is enrolled in the program, future duty assignments for the military service member are considered in the light of that family member’s medical or educational needs.
    • For example, if a child is enrolled in EFMP due to the need for speech and occupational therapy, the service member’s projected duty station will be screened to see if these services are available.

Notes: although the family member’s needs are considered in the assignment process, military requirements take priority for assignment decisions and there are no guarantees that services and supports are available at a new duty location.

The EFMP assignment process does not consider the availability of educational instruction, supports and services under an IEP as part of the assignment process, only military benefits and programs such as medical coverage, respite care, ABA therapy, mental health care and the like. It is also clear that a service being “available” does not mean the family won’t encounter a waiting list for these services, or providers who are no longer taking clients or patients.

  • Family Support: this is the EFMP function which directly serves EFMP families and is the most common point of contact for parent centers. Staff are civilians who work for the military. Contact information for EFMP Family Support is available on [our Interactive Maps.]
    • Provides non-medical case management
    • Assists with navigating the Department of Defense medical, transport, legal, and counseling systems.
    • Provides information about local civilian services and supports
    • May arrange support groups, classes, and family events for the benefit of EFMP families assigned to their installation.
    • On some installations, EFMP Family Support may also provide access and financial support for respite care.

Who is eligible for EFMP?

Active duty personnel with family members who have special health* or educational needs may be eligible. National Guard and Reserve personnel with family members who have special health or educational needs may be eligible during the time period when the service member is called for active federal duty. For EFMP ROC (below), National Guard and Reserve family members may have a consultation without their service member being called to active duty.

*requiring specialized care beyond the level of their general practitioner

Getting enrolled in EFMP:

Enrollment typically begins with the family member’s health care provider. This can be either the primary care manager or a specialty care provider that is military-connected. For additional information regarding the EFMP, families can contact EFMP coordinators, EFMP liaisons, EFMP system navigators, or family resources coordinators depending on their branch of service. Coast Guard parents may contact a Family Special Needs Case Management Officer.

Getting the most benefit from EFMP

It’s important for families to contact the current installation’s EFMP Family Support Office in these situations:

  • To update the child’s EFMP file every three (3) years
  • The parent has new medical or educational information about their child
  • The service member is assigned to a new duty station (PCS) to make certain that paperwork on the Exceptional Family Member is up-to-date and to facilitate services and supports through the new duty station’s EFMP Family Support office.
  • Transportation needs for their child or youth enrolled in EFMP
  • Issues with military services and supports, or expected services and supports are not available
  • Finding resources at the state and local levels (including parent centers!)
  • Accessing state and federal benefits for which the Exceptional Family Member may be eligible

EFMP ONLINE AND BY PHONE FOR FAMILIES:

EFMP Navigation Checklist Tool  EFMP & ME -“EFMP & Me is here to help you effectively navigate through the Department of Defense’s vast network of services and support for families with special needs.”

EFMP ROC program

EFMP Resources, Options and Consultations” (EFMP ROC) is a new program that provides military families who have members with special health or educational needs with enhanced services.  Special needs consultants are available by appointment, via phone or video at no cost, and there is no limit to the number of appointments families can make.

  • Supplements installation-based EFMP Family Support
  • Highly useful for remote families such as National Guard and Reserve. The service member does not need to be called to active duty for these families to use EFMP ROC.
  • Extended-hour appointments add convenience
  • Can be used for cross-referrals to EFMP Family Support when a family plans a move to a new installation

Families can ask for assistance with:

  • Exploring education options
  • Special Education-will refer families to Parent Training and Information Centers (new!)
  • Healthcare and TRICARE (military) programs for individuals with disabilities
    • -including local medical care and services—with the support of a dedicated TRICARE specialist
  • Federal and state benefits for individuals with disabilities
  • Connecting to military and other child care, support groups, in-home care, and deployment support options
  • Special needs trusts and estate planning
  • Referrals to legal help for disability issues

Military families can connect with EFMP-ROC through Military OneSource or by calling 1-800-342-9647.  Appointments can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Consultants have extended (evening) hours for appointments.