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Providing Lifetime Support for Families of Fallen U.S. Army Soldiers Booz Allen and the U.S. Army create a case management resource to ensure surviving relatives have the long-term assistance they need. In the months and years following the death of a soldier, unresolved issues often surface regarding benefits and support services for the surviving family. Since 2006, Booz Allen Hamilton has been helping the U.S. Army implement the Army Long-Term Family Case Management (ALTFCM) system to provide lifetime support to survivors and improve the quality of the services they receive. The Army appoints a casualty assistance officer (CAO) to assist the family of a fallen solider with immediate needs, such as funeral arrangements and handling of personal effects. Until recently, however, few resources were available to help families learn about other support to which they were entitled, such as housing, financial assistance, counseling referrals, and survivor benefits. Says Booz Allen associate Rick West, “ALTFCM is a one-stop resource for surviving family members to get information. Our mission is to ensure that outstanding or previously unidentified issues are handled with personalized care. The Booz Allen/ALTFCM team serves as an advocate for the families and works to mitigate their concerns expeditiously.” ALTFCM assists families of deceased Army, Army Reserve, and National Guard members with benefits and entitlements, military reports and solider records, unpaid pay and allowance, support services, peer group and community programs, and any questions they may have. It provides information 24/7 on its website or via a toll-free phone number to a call center staffed by a team from Booz Allen. The team provides assistance primarily in five areas: Case management (direct assistance to families via the call center), quality assurance (indirect assistance to families), strategic communications and outreach (increasing awareness of services), and strategic planning (advising the Army on how the program should proceed). If they cannot provide an immediate answer, they work on behalf of the family to gain resolution. To date, ALTFCM has served over 4,000 family members, distributed more than $700 million in retroactive benefits, including death gratuity and life insurance, and handled almost 8,000 phone calls.
To meet family needs, the Booz Allen team integrated skills from multiple departments. Says vice president Angie Messer, “Our staff includes individuals with military, social work, case management, IT, medical, training, public relations, quality assurance, and customer care expertise.” Most team members are former military staff in the health field with experience in BPR, change management, and strategic communications. Some are wounded veterans experienced in caregiving services. Reaching Across Federal, State, and Local Agencies—and More The greatest challenge at ALTFCM is identifying and locating families needing assistance. Retroactive programs use multiple means of research to find addresses and phone numbers of surviving family members to ensure they are receiving all benefits to which they are entitled. Says West, “Within about six months after the CAO’s visit, many families move and few update their contact information. Booz Allen works with the Army to locate surviving family members and assist them with applying for and receiving retroactive death benefits and entitlements.” Booz Allen Support Coordinators (SCs) act as catalysts, researchers, and coaches to gain resolutions to challenges faced by surviving family members, says senior consultant Chad Barbee, who provided examples of diverse inquiries he has received in his role as an ALTFCM SC. “I was requested to assist the daughter and granddaughter of a WWII civilian killed in 1943 by the Japanese on Wake Island,” Barbee says. “They needed to obtain the death certificate and other records to find closure for their loved one’s death.” Barbee requested the archived file and provided the family with the death certificate, and contacted the civilian contractor’s employer and obtained a memorial book created to honor its personnel who died on Wake Island. While researching the request, however, he also discovered a directive entitling captured Wake Island contractors to veteran status and VA benefit eligibility. Barbee coached the family through the application process and ensured the approving authorities understood the legislation. More than half a century after her father died, the daughter of the contractor received her father’s DD 214 and POW Medals, and the closure she needed. Barbee cites another ALTFCM case in which the disabled mother of a deceased service member had recently established a place to live after being homeless. She needed a bed so she did not have to sleep on the floor. There are fewer federal programs in place specifically for the parents of deceased service members, but Barbee knew there were several non-profit organizations that may be able to help. He found a joint non-profit and federally funded program to provide the woman with furniture and other needed household goods. A “One-Number” Solution “In supporting ALTFCM, Booz Allen’s objective was to provide a ‘one-number solution’ where survivors could make one call for information,” West says. The firm developed technology that routes calls to a case manager. “Understanding the complexity and diversity of survivors’ requests, it was essential to have a tool that could capture and track deceased soldiers, family contacts, milestones, and various solutions with many levels of detail.” But Booz Allen did more than develop technology. To provide consistent levels of service, the team documented all processes related to survivors’ benefits and the most common inquiries, and interviewed stakeholders to understand survivor needs. This information was used to create comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs). To reduce the time needed to train new hires, the team developed a two-day training course and an online FAQ tool. They also developed an accreditation program for all staff so they can provide consistent, timely, and accurate information to all callers. In addition, Booz Allen helped ALTFCM develop and implement a plan to increase awareness of the center’s services. Team members reach out to families through quality assurance surveys, phone calls, and marketing materials, which help identify unmet needs and assess the families’ perceptions of the support they receive. Sent via conventional mail and available online, the ALTFCM newsletter notifies families of events, provides information and a quick reference guide, and includes articles that suggest practical solutions to challenges survivors face. To further improve service, a quality assurance work group was established to capture data from families in the four areas of the casualty process—notification, casualty assistance, mortuary affairs, and post-interment assistance. Booz Allen has received feedback from over 1,000 family members, which has been presented to the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense and used to determine new laws, regulations, and policies and develop CAO training. The National Defense Authorization Act, which mandated enhanced death benefits for qualifying survivors of fallen military personnel, became law in January 2006. In April 2008, the Booz Allen team began its support of an outreach program to locate families of soldiers who were killed in action after October 6, 2001 and may qualify for retroactive benefits. “We are committed to improving the level of service for families who are affected today, as well as those who are impacted in the future,” says West. story posted May 9, 2008
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