Deployment Support

The purpose of deployment support programs is to assist service members and their families in successfully managing the challenges associated with the separation/reunion cycles resulting from Army and Air National Guard deployment schedules.

Exceptional Family Member Support

The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) is a mandatory enrollment program that works with other military and civilian agencies to provide comprehensive and coordinated community support, housing, educational, medical, and personnel services to families with special needs.

Family Assistance Centers

FACs have an important one-stop assistance and referral role for individual families. They are usually formed for major deployments.

First Lady’s Military Family Care Initiative

When there is a call to active duty, families of military personnel have many adjustments to make. It is much easier for the families to cope with these difficult changes if they know they are being cared for by their communities. The First Lady of Minnesota has established a care initiative to support families of deployed military members.

Guard Family Network

A family network is an organization of family members, volunteers, and Soldiers belonging to a unit that together provide an avenue of mutual support, assistance, and a network of communication among the family members, the chain of command, and community resources.

Minnesota National Guard Youth Camp

The Minnesota National Guard Youth Camp is an annual event where the youth (dependents, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and grandchildren) of Minnesota Guard members spend seven days experiencing Camp Ripley and its surrounding environment during the one week camp session.

Youth Services

The staff of the Minnesota National Guard Family Program is committed to helping families of Guard members not only cope, but also flourish and grow as a result of their affiliation with the National Guard. For this reason we offer youth services and resources for parents to use in preparing their children for family separations due to deployment.