Today’s session was held in anticipation of writing an issues paper on the working group’s chosen issue of assuring adequate behavioral health staffing at all Army installations. “It is overwhelming and humbling to be a part of trying to make successful changes,” said Dianna Brice, a Blacksburg, Va., delegate from the U.S. Army Cadet Command.
The working group’s mission - to identify and prioritize quality of life issues to safeguard and improve the Army’s standard of living - is underscored by their decision to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns at nearby Arlington National Cemetery during today’s afternoon break. Their visit will commemorate the military community they serve, as well as help bring closure for one of the facilitators who announced that she will miss today’s memorial service for a unit member.
The working group’s goal today is to write a strong, high-quality issue paper for adoption into the Headquarters Department of the Army (HQDA) AFAP. The paper will define the scope of the issue and recommend solutions.
Once adopted, the issue will be assigned by the Director of the Army Staff to the appropriate Army staff office to be worked toward resolution. Action officers will develop a cost analysis and an action plan to resolve the issue and identify a completion date for each stage of the action plan.
While yesterday, the working group’s quest was to ask thoughtful and insightful questions to better understand the issues, attention now turns to the precise craft of bringing their passion and expertise of the issue to paper.
All 16 issues papers written by the delegates at this year’s conference automatically move forward to the HQDA AFAP, however, five that capture the hearts and minds of conference delegates will be flagged for immediate action. The combined power of the Medical and Dental I Working Group is working at this time to secure one of those top places for AFAP Issue #11: Understaffing of Behavioral Health Providers on All Army Installations.
As the subject matter expert, Paul Macias, Chief of the Policy and Programs Branch of the Civilian Human Resource Division, Headquarters Medical Command, reviewed needed improvements in the process to hire qualified behavioral health professionals, the desire of each working group member to provide immediate access to behavioral health care for the Army Community was palpable.
Voting on the top five will take place on Friday, the last day of the AFAP Conference. Announcement of the winners will take place here, “Live at the AFAP Conference.”
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