The announcement last week that DoD has resumed the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account - MyCAA - program means thousands of spouses will be able to continue their plans for career advancement.
Beginning at noon Saturday, 136,583 military spouses who were currently enrolled in the program were, once again, able to get tuition assistance.
One Belvoir spouse says the program has been a financial savior for her family.
Corie Madden, a Fort Belvoir Army spouse, has used MyCAA funding to complete a medical terminology class given by Northern Virginia Community College through Belvoir’s Army Community Service’s Career Academy. She’s now taking a medical office specialist course and plans to take medical coding and pharmacy technician classes, all at NoVA.
“My husband’s here for school for only a year,” Madden said. “I had a plan I was trying to stick to and, in that time, wanted to get as much done as I can.”
Madden said she and her husband both expect to be finished with schooling in August. “I would have not been able to do it at all without financial help from MyCAA. It’s been a savior for our family,” she said.
“I appreciate that officials listened to affected spouses and reinstated the program’s funding for all those spouses who, like me, had plans they wanted to stick to,” she said.
The first phase of the reinstated program will enable the department to continue to pay up to $6,000 in tuition assistance for spouses currently enrolled. The department is working to adjust and meet the demands of the program and develop a long-term solution for spouses not yet enrolled who would like to establish an account.
“We made a commitment to our military spouses when they established a career advancement account and we will be true to our promises,” said Tommy Thomas, deputy under secretary of defense, military community and family policy.
The nationwide program launched a year ago to help military spouses get portable careers in high-demand, high-growth occupations. An unexpected spike in enrollment prompted the DoD to pause the program Feb. 16.
On Belvoir, the benefits of the program are being used by Madden and others like her who have enrolled in Belvoir’s Army Community Service Military Spouse Career Academy.
The academy was formed to provide job skills training to military spouses, according to Laureen DuPree, employment readiness program manager at ACS. Courses, taught by Northern Virginia Community College, are designed to provide skills which can also enhance opportunities for federal employment for military spouses, DuPree explained.
She said the first group of students started classes in the medical administrative field in January 2009 and were funded with tuition grants from Fairfax County work force development money. Eligibility for these funds was severely restricted.
With the launching of the MyCAA program, 68 military spouses, using MyCAA monies, have taken courses with the academy, which has expanded to include an administrative assistant certificate program,” DuPree said.
DuPree said a student at the academy, who had not worked in 15 years, took the administrative assistant training using MyCAA funds. With her new skills and increased confidence, she interviewed and was selected for a position with an organization on the installation and now earns $22.50 an hour.
“The availability of MyCAA monies and the relative ease of registering for the benefit encourages military spouses to update their skills and complete degrees without tapping into the family income,” DuPree said.
The DoD is developing options for the long-term management of the program and expect to be able to announce the details soon. Until new accounts can be created, Military OneSource Spouse Education and Career Consultants will continue to be available to provide education and training, career exploration, assessment, employment readiness and career search assistance.
DoD press release and Belvoir Eagle staff reports contributed to this story.
