STOMP: Specialized Training of Military Parents
Calling all military/special needs families! Calling all military/special needs families! Have any of you heard of STOMP, a military program designed to support and educate families of kids with special needs?
What Is STOMP?
This isn’t the noisy, percussion group that bangs on garbage can lids. According to an article in Air Combat Command at the Air Force website, STOMP stands for Specialized Training of Military Parents. The article says “The parent training is federally-founded and the information provided assists families who have children with special education or health needs.”
Stompproject.org
More information is available at www.stompproject.org. Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, the organization has four regional offices. Here’s their contact information:
STOMP Headquarters Office
6316 S 12th St
Tacoma WA 98465
Phone: 253-565-2266 v/tty 1-800-5PARENT v/tty
Fax: 253-566-8052
Contact :stomp@wapave.org
STOMP Central Regional Office
3910 Via Del Trinidad
Sierra Vista AZ 85650
Ph/Fax: 520-458-7911
Contact: amartinez@wapave.org
STOMP East Coast Office
804 Bedford Rd
Fayetteville, NC 28303
Ph/Fax: (910) 864-9165
Contact: vpatterson@wapave.org
STOMP West Coast Office
6316 S 12th St
Tacoma WA 98465
Phone: 253-565-2266 v/tty 1-800-5PARENT v/tty
Fax: 253-566-8052
Contact :stomp@wapave.org
The STOMP Mission Statement
Their mission statement says this. “STOMP, a parent-directed project exists to empower military parents, individuals with disabilities, and service providers with knowledge, skills, and resources so that they might access services to create a collaborative environment for family and professional partnerships without regard to geographic location.”
Two Questions for Military Families
After reading the mission statement, I have two questions:
- Do those involved with the military have to make everything they write sound like secret code?
- Has STOMP been of service to you, and if so, how?
Your feedback is of great interest, as I would like to include information about STOMP in my new book. But the manuscript goes to the publisher on April 1, so time is short. Any comments you could make would be greatly appreciated.
Stomping away,
Jolene
I am not sure what you are asking about in your first question.
For your second question, I can say, Yes, STOMP has definitely been a service to me. I went to a two-day seminar held in Monterey, CA. Two of my daughters are on the autism spectrum. I was dealing with a really terrible school system and I learned a lot about IEPs and how I could be a better advocate for my children. There is so much information out there and I was so overwhelmed. STOMP helped guide me in the right direction as well as connected me with a whole network of services and information that, in turn, have made me more confident in handling all the things that I have to do.
The first question was more or less a joke. But the second was serious. Thank you, Megan, for sharing your experience with us. How did you learn about the STOMP Seminar?
Jolene
Afternoon,
STOMP provides a ton of benefit for the amount of funding they get (not a bunch). They are a relatively small group who provides training at bases across the US. I’d suggest they are the only outside organization outside of DoD who will provide military parents with the information they need. Feel free to email me to discuss further….I’ll be happy to discuss off line a number of different issues.
Thanks for volunteering to be the go-to person about STOMP, Jeremy. His email is jlrmhilton@gmail.com if you would like more information.
Jolene
You know I have been trying to get information and assistance but no one seems to want to respond to my questions. I am very disenchanted by STOMP.
I’m sorry to hear that, Monique. From what their website said, they’re in the middle of some transitions these days. I suggest you contact Jeremy (see his comment below) for suggestions.
Jolene
I am a military spouse with a special needs child, and STOMP has been an invaluable resource. I would recommend it to every military family with special needs. They are especially helpful when navigating Tricare, and military paperwork for getting our family members the things they need. I have found STOMP listserv members to be more helpful than EFMP personnel at times, in part because they have a larger firsthand knowledge base, and can give their candid opinions and share their experiences.
To add to my previous comment, my experience is exclusively through their listserv, I have not yet been able to go to any of their seminars, and don’t often visit their website.
Feel free to contact me or simply join the listserv (anyone can). You’ll find service members from across the country who might be able to help you with military issues if you have a child with a disability.
Thank you, Debbie. From what you and Jeremy said, the listserv is the place for Monique to start.
Jolene
Hi Jolene, of course we have to make everything “secret code”, we work with Special Education (just kidding)
I work at STOMP and was thrilled this morning when I received the information about the blog. I too am a parent of a young adult with Special Needs and had the honor of being a military mom while my spouse was on active duty. Now that we are retired from the military we continue to assist families not only through STOMP but also in our local community.
I want to thank Jeremy and many other of our volunteers that assist families around the world on a daily basis. We offer a variety of services to families from the workshops that have already been mentioned to one-to-one assistance, contacts with families and professionals at other installations to advanced trainings at our Annual Parent Professional Teams Workshop.
As has already been mentioned as well, our listserv provides information to any number of families and professionals and has been a constant source of information for over 10 years. We are also now on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1649533343) and our website has materials, links and information that can be downloaded and shared.
Our staff Heather, our Director; Valerie, Kate, Briana and myself welcome calls and emails from all of you.
Please feel free to call us if you need more information about us. I am currently out of the office working with other staff but I can be reached by email at amartinez@wapave.org.
Facebook STOMP page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/STOMP-Specialized-Training-of-Military-Parents/374774324825
Adriana,
Thank you for the contact information for STOMP. And thanks to you and the rest of your staff for your support of parents of kids with special needs. You might like to know that your organization is mentioned as a resource in my new book, Different Dream Parenting: A Practical Guide to Raising a Child with Special Needs. It will be released in October by Discovery House Publishers.
Jolene
STOMP chapter at Fort Jackson has been inactive for over 3 years. STOMP has not updated their contact on their website and advocacy has not been very strong. I volunteered to be their parent representative to support the families here and have contacted our EFMP office. I am waiting for them to notify me with confirmation of their training in July. With the growing number of diagnosis and needs of military families, we need all support for our troops and families to be top notch. I hope STOMP can meet this growing need and have plans to effectively support the military community in the years to come.
My focus is on helping families and education. Too many of our special needs children have been held back or not supported well in the public school system which delays their development and growth. This support begins in the home with parents who are well trained and educated on the needs of their child as well as what is happening in the school system today. We don’t want our children to fall through the cracks due current economy and budget cuts. This is my facebook page I recently started to help families self educate on current news and information on what’s going on with the education system as a whole. Once I complete the STOMP training, I am hoping to provide more locally available information and news. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coffee-Shop-for-Education-K-12/126749307395170
Morning-
I am active duty Air Force and I found STOMP 2 years ago when my first daughter was born with a rare chromosome abnormality. While the Doctors were telling us all sorts of horrible outcomes. I still had to deal with the Air Force assignment system and trying to get to a location that could provide care for her, while she was already relocated. I dealt with a EFMP office that didn’t even know how to fill out their own paper work and a command that was not familiar with how the EFMP office was supposed to help me. STOMP enabled me to get things done correctly and get stationed near where my daughter was being medically empaneled. I recommend them to everyone I run into at work who sounds like they might benifit. And I also recommend them to the EFMP offices in my area. The members on the listserve were able to give me tips on paperwork and the AirForce Personnel system to be able to work with them to get the right outcome that my daughter needed. And their website recently was able to help me work through my daughter’s transition from Early Intervention Services to Preschool/IEP services. After having our meeting last week, it all went smoothly and positively and I know that is impart to STOMP and their invaluable information for me and my family. And at times, my command. The great thing for me, is that there are people on the listserve who have YEARS of experience at locations/ bases and with sysems and programs and they are willing to share that information with me so I am not blind when faced with a new assignment/deployment ect. Which makes a normally hard time terrifying when you have to consider the support your baby needs and how you are going to get it without missing anything! Sorry thats a bit long, but I hope that helps answer your question!
-Marie
-Marie
Thanks, Marie, for sharing about how STOMP helped you. And Cindy, thanks to you for advocating on behalf of kids, especially in schools. As a former teacher, I can attest to the soundness of your wisdom and the need for parental involvement. I’m on the road today, but look forward to checking out the resources you recommended. If you have any suggestions about how I can make contact with military special needs parents and let them know how my books can assist them, please let me know!
Jolene
STOMP is an invaluable resource for my family. I had the privilege of attending one of their workshops at Camp LeJeune, NC several years ago. In their two day training I gained more knowledge than in any other program or workshop I have attended since!!! I have asked the EFMP to please bring them back again especially in light of all the families who have just recently received a special needs diagnosis with no success!! I trust the members on the listserv who have paved the way for me and have been there anytime I have called or emailed, in any state I have resided in. They are my first go-to people when I have concerns arise because they are knowledgable, dependable and experienced! You can’t have that experience with individuals who have not walked a mile in your shoes!!! I wish MORE funding was available for STOMP-even at the expense of the EFMP. Thanks STOMP for helping me do the best for my family!!!
Dear Traci,
How wonderful to hear about how STOMP helped you. Funding is always an issue, isn’t it? Best wishes to you and your family in the future!
Jolene