Gov. Mike Easley has proclaimed April the “Month of the Military Child” in recognition of the thousands of children of military parents in North Carolina who also sacrifice during times of extended deployments. Overseas deployments since 2001 have put additional stress on military families, including the more than one million children in America who have at least one parent currently serving on active duty.

“These children are a source of pride and honor to us all,” said Easley. “It is only fitting that we take time to celebrate their spirit and let our men and women in uniform know that while they are taking care of us, we are taking care of their children.”

North Carolina is a national leader in supporting children of military families, especially the children of the 11,500 members of the N.C. National Guard and the more than 10,700 Reserve members based in the state. Because the Guard and Reserve are part time military forces, the families do not always have easy access to the support systems that exist on active duty military bases.

In December 2006, Easley announced North Carolina was joining with the Military Child Education Coalition to form the “Supporting Families and Children of the Guard and Reserves Institutes.” The two-day institutes provide K-12 school-based administrators, teachers, counselors and social workers resources and strategies to help military children succeed in the classroom while dealing with the stress of having a loved one deployed. With support from the Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education, more than 600 educators have received the training conducted annually at programs around state.

Later this month, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, will announce the availability of a new DVD for military families titled: “Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes.” The DVD is a new Sesame Street bilingual, multimedia outreach program featuring Elmo that is designed to help support military families with young children experiencing deployments, multiple deployments or when a parent returns home changed due to a combat related injury. N.C. National Guard families participated in the development of the DVD, which will be available free to military families along with a parent /caregiver magazine, a child’s activity poster and Muppet postcards beginning on April 29th.

North Carolina has some of the nation’s most comprehensive programs to assist military families in the areas of family support; education; licensing and registration; tax and financial; state employees; and protections, recognition and employment. Some of the other benefits offered to members of the military and their families include:

• Family Support – More than 100 banks provide toll-free financial counseling. Project Community Action Readiness Effort provides emergency vehicle and home repair, child care assistance and transportation. Several programs provide emotional counseling to military children to better help them cope with the deployment, while other programs create community-based recreational, social and education programs to support the emotional and physical well being of kids whose parents are deployed. The N.C. National Guard operates five Family Assistance Centers around the state to provide information, referrals and guidance to families and will open three more centers later this spring.

• State Employee Benefits – State employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve receive the difference between their military pay and state salary. The length of active duty service is credited toward state employee retirement. Veterans who served during a period of war can receive preference for being hired, promoted or reassigned.

• Educational Benefits – More than $2 million is budgeted annually to provide tuition assistance for North Carolina National Guard members. Out-of-state resident members of the North Carolina National Guard are charged in-state tuition. Children of deployed military parents are eligible for Easley’s pre-kindergarten program More at Four.

• Financial Benefits – State tax is exempted for any pay received when serving in a combat zone. Military retirees may deduct up to $4,000 annually of military retirement benefits included in federal taxable income; some may also exclude their retirement income from state taxes. North Carolina this year increased the pension for retired National Guard members (the second increase in recent years). The state also provides funds to the “Soldier and Airmen Assistance Fund” to help Guard members who find themselves with financial challenges while serving in the North Carolina National Guard.

• Licensing, registrations and fees – Deployed soldiers receive an extension for vehicle license plate registration renewals and are relieved from civil penalties for expired emissions tests.

• Protections, recognition and employment support – Any court action against deployed soldiers are delayed until they return to the state.