The Military Community and Family Policy Reports page includes descriptions and links to important Department of Defense and government reports and survey results that relate to the deputate.

Demographic Reports

These reports present a synthesis of demographic information describing members and families in the military community.

Annual Report to Congress on Plans for the Department of Defense for the Support of Military Readiness

This annual report to Congress provides a summary of plans and assessment activities pertaining to military family readiness.

Annual Report of the Department of Defense Military Family Council

This annual report to Congress presents an assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of the military family readiness programs and recommendations on action to be taken to improve those programs. The fiscal 2008 report was combined with the Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report to Congress on plans for the Department of Defense for the Support of Military Family Readiness.

Defense Manpower Data Center Survey Results

The Defense Manpower Data Center conducts surveys that assess attitudes and opinions on a wide range of personnel issues across the entire Department of Defense community.

• "Results From the 2015 Survey of Active Duty Spouses" – This briefing summarizes findings from the biennial survey of active-duty military spouses used to understand and track spouses' experiences of military life, including measures of employment, relationships, child well-being, finances, permanent changes of station moves and deployments. 
• "Status of Forces Survey of Active Duty Members" – This briefing summarizes select findings from the 2013 and 2014 surveys that address key issues of military life. 
• "Military Family Life Project: Active Duty Spouse Study" – This report details the results of the first large-scale longitudinal Department of Defense survey of military families. Results cover the impact of military life events — deployments and permanent change of station moves — on important outcome for military spouses and children. 
• "Results From the 2012 Survey of Active Duty Spouses" – This survey, conducted every two years, highlights topics important to military spouses, such as education, employment, finances, marriage and life in the military.

Quadrennial Quality of Life Reviews

The Department of Defense conducts a comprehensive examination of the quality of life of the members of the armed forces, including an examination of the programs, projects and activities of the department.

2nd Quadrennial Quality of Life Review, 2009

1st Quadrennial Quality of Life Review, 2004

Department of Defense Inspector General Reports

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General serves as an independent and objective office in the department to conduct, supervise, monitor and initiate audits, evaluations and investigations relating to programs and operations of the Department of Defense. 

• Report No. DODIG-2014-103, "Evaluation of Military Criminal Investigative Organizations’ Child Sexual Assault Investigations," Sept. 9, 2014 – This report summarizes the evaluation of 163 Military Criminal Investigative Organization investigations of sexual assaults of children closed in 2012 to determine whether the organizations completed investigations as required by Department of Defense, service and investigative guidance. 
• Report No. D-2011-046, "Improving Planning for Military Construction of Army Child Development Centers," March 1, 2011 – This report evaluates the Department of Defense’s implementation of plans for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, specifically determining that the Army needed to improve planning for constructing child development centers to assure the appropriate use of Recovery Act funds.

Government Accountability Office Reports

The Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. 

• GAO-16-569, "DoD and the Coast Guard Need to Develop Policies and Outreach Goals and Metrics for Program Supporting Servicemembers' Survivors," June 28, 2016 – This report analyzes statutes, Department of Defense and Coast Guard policies on casualty matters, and the department’s military services' casualty assistance guidance and training materials. 
• GAO-15-713, "DoD Needs More Complete and Consistent Data to Assess the Costs and Policies of Relocating Personnel," Sept. 9, 2015 – This report evaluates the extent to which per-move costs associated with permanent changes of station changed since 2001, the extent to which military personnel were meeting time-on-station requirements, and whether the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s September 2014 study on increasing time-on-station addressed the elements in Senate Report 112-196 and used approaches consistent with generally accepted research standards. 
• GAO-15-24, "DoD and VA Programs That Address the Effects of Combat and Transition to Civilian Life," Nov. 7, 2014 – This report identifies the number of programs, including the types of services offered, that addressed the effects of combat on post-9/11 active-duty service members and their families, that helped post-9/11 service members and veterans transition to civilian life, and that helped raise public awareness and understanding of service members' and veterans' combat and transition experiences. 
• GAO-14-855, "Action Is Needed to Ensure Evaluations of Postsecondary Schools Are Useful," Sept. 8, 2014 – This report examines the number of advisors and the type of advice they provide, and the information collected through evaluations of schools participating in the military Tuition Assistance Program. 
• GAO-14-221, "Information on Mortgage Protections and Related Education Efforts," Jan. 28, 2014 – This report examines available information on changes in the financial well-being of service members who received foreclosure-prevention and mortgage-related interest rate protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. 
• GAO-14-144, "Improved Oversight Needed to Enhance Implementation of Transition Assistance Program," March 5, 2014 – This report addresses the status of the Transition Assistance Program implementation, the extent to which elements of effective implementation and evaluation of the program had been addressed, and any challenges that may remain. 
• GAO-13-619, "Top-Level Leadership Attention Needed to Resolve Longstanding Challenges in Accounting for Missing Persons from Past Conflicts," July 17, 2013 – This report analyzes guidance and requirements, discusses accounting efforts and the structure of the community with community members, and surveys accounting community members and related entities to assess the Department of Defense’s capability and capacity to accomplish the missing persons accounting mission. 
• GAO-13-165R, "Department of Defense Policies on Accommodating Children with Special Needs in Child Care Programs," Jan. 16, 2013 – This report describes key Department of Defense policies and procedures for accommodating children with special needs, monitoring program compliance with accommodation policies and administering medication to children with special needs to relieve symptoms quickly in emergencies. It also describes related litigation. 
• GAO-13-67, "Guidance Needed for Military Base Schools on Startup and Operational Issues," Feb. 5, 2013 – This report examines the characteristics and origins of charter schools on military installations and the challenges charter schools on military installations have faced in starting up and continuing their operations. 
• GAO-13-60, "DoD Can Improve Guidance and Performance Monitoring," Dec. 13, 2012 – This report examines the Department of Defense’s recent efforts to help military spouses obtain employment, the department’s steps to assess effectiveness of these efforts and the hiring mechanisms to help military spouses obtain federal jobs. 
• GAO-12-680, "Better Oversight Needed to Improve Services for Children With Special Needs," Sept. 10, 2012 – This report reviews how the Department of Defense provided special education services, how the department entities coordinate to assign families overseas and how schools might be affected, what challenges families face in accessing services for their children with special educational needs and obtaining related information, and what steps the department was taking to enhance screening and overseas assignment for families with children with special educational needs. 
• GAO-12-21, "DoD Is Taking Actions to Address Awareness and Availability Barriers," Feb. 3, 2012 – This report reviews Department of Defense policies and guidance, provides interviews with officials from the department and presents an analysis of child care costs for a random probability sample of 338 families using off-installation care in school year 2010.
• GAO-11-300, "Increased Oversight of Tuition Assistance Program Is Needed," March 1, 2011 – This report evaluates the Department of Defense’s oversight of schools receiving Tuition Assistance Program funds and the extent to which the department coordinated with accrediting agencies and the U.S. Department of Education in its oversight activities. 
• GAO-11-231, "Better Information Needed to Assess Student Performance," March 1, 2011 – This report summarizes the results of the Government Accountability Office’s survey of all 154 school districts that received Department of Defense Impact Aid in any year from 2001 to 2009. 
• GAO-10-923, "Sustained Leadership and Oversight Needed to Improve DoD's Prevention and Treatment of Domestic Abuse," Oct. 13, 2010 –This report evaluates whether the Department of Defense was able to determine the effectiveness of its domestic abuse efforts. 
• GAO-10-577, "Status of Implementation of GAO's 2006 Recommendations on DoD's Domestic Violence Program," April 26, 2010 – This report assesses the progress the Department of Defense had made in implementing recommendations contained in the Government Accountability Office 2006 report. 
• GAO-07-1148R, "DoD's Predatory Lending Report Addressed Mandated Issues, but Support Is Limited for Some Findings and Recommendations," Aug. 31, 2007 – This report reviews the Department of Defense’s 2006 report on predatory lending practices. 
• GAO-07-317R, "Medical, Family Support, and Educational Services Are Available for Exceptional Family Members," March 16, 2007 – This report describes the services provided by the military health and family support systems that are available to meet the needs of exceptional family members within the United States and identifies state and local services available for the exceptional family members in select communities. 
• GAO-06-1010, "DoD Needs an Oversight Framework and Standards to Improve Management of Its Casualty Assistance Programs," Sept. 22, 2006 – This report reviews the extent to which The Department of Defense had an oversight framework and standards to monitor the assistance it provides to survivors of deceased service members, and visibility over the costs of its Casualty Assistance programs. 
• GAO-06-540, "Progress Made in Implementing Recommendations to Reduce Domestic Violence, but Further Management Action Needed," May 24, 2006 – This report discusses the Department of Defense’s ability to report on domestic violence incidents and disciplinary actions, the resources the department had provided to implement the recommendations and the department’s specific actions to ensure victim confidentiality and the education of commanding officers, senior enlisted personnel and chaplains. 
• GAO-06-23, "Actions Needed to Better Protect Military Members," Nov. 2, 2005 – This report examines features and marketing of certain insurance products being sold to military members, features and marketing of certain securities products being sold to military members, and how financial regulators and the Department of Defense were overseeing the sales of insurance and securities products to military members. 
• GAO-05-544, "Enhanced Services Could Improve Transition Assistance for Reserves and National Guard," May 20, 2005 – This report assesses Transition Assistance Program administration, including program participation, and identifies actions agencies were taking to improve the program and challenges that remain. 
• GAO-05-348, "More DoD Actions Needed to Address Servicemembers' Personal Financial Management Issues," April 2005 – This report assesses the extent to which deployment impacts the financial condition of active-duty service members and their families, whether the Department of Defense had an oversight framework for evaluating military programs designed to assist deployed and nondeployed service members in managing their finances, and the extent to which junior enlisted service members received required financial readiness training. 
• GAO-04-465R, "Bankruptcy Filings among Active Duty Service Members," Feb. 27, 2004 – This report determines the rate of personal bankruptcy filings among active-duty military personnel, how that rate compared with the rate found in the U.S. population and identifies factors that should be considered when attempting to compare the rate of bankruptcy filings for active-duty military personnel with the rate for the U.S. population. 
• GAO-03-1004, "DoD Needs More Data to Address Financial and Health Care Issues Affecting Reservists," Sept. 10, 2003 – This report reviews compensation programs for reservists serving on active duty. 
• GAO-01-567, "Program Helped Address Teacher Shortages," May 25, 2001 – This report reviews the Troops to Teachers program from its beginning in January 1994 until its transfer to the Department of Education in 1999.

RAND Reports

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. 

• Meadows, Tanielian and Karney, "The Deployment Life Study: Longitudinal Analysis of Military Families Across the Deployment Cycle," April 7, 2016 – This report briefly reviews the study design and data collection procedures, presents results from analyses of the longitudinal data collected from some 2,700 military families and offers recommendations for programs and future research related to military families. 
• Gonzalez, Matthews, Posard, Roshan and Ross, "Evaluation of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership: Progress Report on First Stage of Analysis," Dec. 28, 2015 – This report documents the first phase of RAND research to assess the Military Spouse Employment Partnership's progress in supporting military spouse employment and closing the wage gap between military and civilian spouses. 
• Meadows, Beckett, Bowling, Golinelli, Fisher, Martin, Meredith and Osilla, "Family Resilience in the Military: Definitions, Models and Policies," July 10, 2015 – The Department of Defense had 26 policies related to family resilience, but definitions of the term varied across the services. To facilitate a comprehensive view of family resilience programming, this report presents a standard definition of family resilience. 
• Friedman, Miller and Evans, "Advancing the Careers of Military Spouses: An Assessment of Education and Employment Goals and Barriers Facing Military Spouses Eligible for MyCAA," Jan. 21, 2015 – The authors use survey data to compare the attitudes and experiences of recent users and nonusers of the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship, a program for eligible military spouses pursuing associate's degrees, certificates or licenses. 
• Tanielian, Karney, Chandra and Meadows, "The Deployment Life Study: Methodological Overview and Baseline Sample Description," April 28, 2014 – This report describes the Deployment Life Study theoretical model, the content of the baseline assessment, the design and procedures associated with data collection, sampling and recruiting procedures, and the baseline sample of military families.
• Sims, Wong, Bana and Winkler, "Strategically Aligned Family Research: Supporting Soldier and Family Quality of Life Research for Policy Decisionmaking," May 31, 2013 – This report documents the Army’s efforts to develop a research agenda that defines the quality of life needs of soldiers and families, helped gauge the success of programs, improved coordination of research efforts and determined how best to allocate resources.
• Miller, Heaton and Loughran, "Analysis of Financial Support to the Surviving Spouses and Children of Casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars" – This study examines how the death of service members during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom has affected the subsequent labor market earnings of their surviving spouses and the extent to which survivor benefits provided by the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration have compensated for lost household earnings.
• Heaton, Dertouzos, Anderson and Mendeloff, "Compensation for Combat Deaths: Policy Considerations," March 15, 2012 – This briefing identifies policy questions related to compensating service members and their survivors for fatality risk. It compares combat fatality patterns with fatalities occurring in other contexts and discusses current compensation programs.
• Werber, Harrell, Varda, Hall, Beckett and Howard, "Deployment Experiences of Guard and Reserve Families: Implications for Support and Retention," Dec. 5, 2008 – This report analyzes data from more than 600 interviews to provide a better understanding of the major issues faced by National Guard and reserve families, how they vary among families who differ demographically and how they may relate to military career intentions.
• Zellman, Gates, Cho and Shaw, "Options for Improving the Military Child Care System," Sept. 13, 2008 – In support of recruitment, readiness and retention goals, this paper suggests that the Department of Defense may wish to expand its child care benefits to cover more military families and a broader set of child care needs.
• Lim, Golinelli and Cho, "'Working Around the Military' Revisited Spouse Employment in the 2000 Census Data," Feb. 15, 2007 – This report compares employment patterns of military spouses with those of civilian spouses using the 2000 census data.
• Gates, Zellman, Moini and Booth, "Examining Child Care Need Among Military Families," Oct. 6, 2006 – This report describes and analyzes the results of a 2004 military family survey of child care need and child care choices, defining outcomes of potential interest to the Department of Defense and their effect on readiness and retention.
• Moini, Zellman and Gates, "Providing Child Care to Military Families: The Role of the Demand Formula in Defining Need and Informing Policy," Oct. 6, 2006 – This report assesses the formula used by the Department of Defense to determine child care demand and the factors affecting the child care needs of military families.
• Lim and Golinelli, "Monitoring Employment Conditions of Military Spouses," Aug. 7, 2006 – This report determines valid measures of labor market conditions for military spouses and the sufficient sample size to allow generalization to the population of military spouses.
• Harrell, Lim, Werber and Golinelli, "Working Around the Military: Challenges to Military Spouse Employment and Education," Oct. 5, 2004 – This report looks at the factors of employment and education disparities between military and civilian spouses, and recommends associated areas of improvement for the military to better accommodate its families.
• Hickman, Davis and Steinberg, "Approaches to Making Military-Civilian Domestic Violence Collaborations Work: Lessons Learned From Two Case Studies," Jan. 1, 2004 – This report presents two case studies about collaborative relationships between military installations and neighboring communities, offering preliminary information about strategies for forming and strengthening these relationships.

Miscellaneous Reports

• "Family Advocacy Program Reports: Child and Domestic Abuse," Aug. 28, 2015 – The report summarizes the fiscal 2014 Department of Defense Family Advocacy Program data on child and domestic abuse. This report is required annually to demonstrate how the department tracks aggregate domestic and child abuse data and to assist in responding to related internal and external queries.
• "Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America’s Commitment," January 2011 – In May 2010, the president directed the National Security Staff to develop a coordinated federal government-wide approach to supporting military families. This report summarizes the recommendations to improve the quality of military family life and help communities more effectively support military families.
• "Report to Congress on the Impact of Deployment of Members of the Armed Forces on Their Dependent Children," October 2010 – This report presents the findings of a comprehensive assessment of the impact of military deployment on children evaluated through a review of available studies and survey data from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
• "Final Report from the National Leadership Summit on Military Families," November 2009 – This report serves as a comprehensive overview and summary of the National Leadership Summit on Military Families, held in November 2009. The Final Report detailed the current challenges, established goals and laid out a plan of action for the future of military family support and readiness.
• "The Department of Defense Update to the Report on Assistance to Local Educational Agencies for Defense Dependents Education," March 2008 – This report provides the Department of Defense’s plan to provide assistance to local educational agencies that would experience growth or decline in the enrollment of military students as a result of force structure changes, relocation of military units, or the closure or realignment of military installations under the defense base closure laws.
• "The Department of Defense Conference on Education for Military-Connected Communities After Action Report," November 2006 – This report provides information on military-connected communities examined strategies, best practices and resources for addressing the transition needs of communities and schools that serve the children of military and Department of Defense employees.
• Response to the Terrorist Attack on the Pentagon: Pentagon Family Assistance Center After Action Report," March 2003 – This report discusses the three phases of the operation and the services and support provided by the Pentagon Family Assistance Center to meet the needs of the families over time. Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C and Appendix D are also available.
• "A New Social Compact: A Reciprocal Partnership Between the Department of Defense, Service Members and Families," July 2002 – This report addresses the quality of life of service members and their families, emphasizing the Department of Defense’s recognition of the importance of quality of life satisfaction to mission readiness and its commitment to providing support.
• Buddin and Do, "Assessing the Personal Financial Problems of Junior Enlisted Personnel," January 2002 – This report shows that young military members are more prone to serious problems paying bills than comparable civilian workers.
• Hosek, Asch, Fair, Martin, Mattock, "Married to the Military: The Employment and Earnings of Military Wives Compared with Those of Civilian Wives," April 10, 2002 – This report examines differences between military and civilian wives' contribution to family income.