Family Advocacy Program Defense Department Policies

These resources include Defense Department directives, instructions and guidance on family advocacy and child abuse issues.

DOD Instruction 1342.24, “Transitional Compensation (TC) for Abused Dependents,” Sept. 23, 2019: This instruction implements policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for payment of monthly transitional compensation to dependents of members separated from military service for dependent abuse.

DOD Instruction 6400.01, “Family Advocacy Program (FAP),” May 1, 2019: This manual prescribes uniform standards for all installation Family Advocacy Programs and provides installation FAP officers with an instrument for executing their programs.

DOD Instruction 6400.03, “Family Advocacy Command Assistance Team (FACAT),” April 25, 2014, Incorporating Change 1, effective April 3, 2017: This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibility and prescribes procedures for the implementation of the Family Advocacy Command Assistance Team. The FACAT helps local installation personnel manage cases of child sexual abuse in a DOD out-of-home care program when the team identifies multiple children as known or suspected victims.

DOD Instruction 6400.05, “New Parent Support Program (NPSP),” June 13, 2012: This instruction implements policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures under DOD Directive 6400.1 for the NPSP, a standardized secondary prevention program for parents who are at risk for engaging in child abuse. The NPSP uses an intensive, voluntary home visitation model developed specifically for expectant parents and parents of children from birth to 3 years of age to reduce the risk of child abuse.

DOD Instruction 6400.06, “DoD Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Abuse Involving DoD Military and Certain Affiliated Personnel,” Dec. 15, 2021: This instruction establishes, implements and updates domestic abuse policies and identifies and assigns responsibilities for preventing and responding to domestic abuse. It includes provisions related to military protection orders, Fatality Review and other topics that are relevant in child abuse cases.

DOD Instruction 6400.09, “DOD Policy on Integrated Primary Prevention of Self-Directed Harm and Prohibited Abuse or Harm,” Sep 11, 2020. This policy establishes and integrates policies and responsibilities to reduce/eliminate self-directed harm and abusive or harmful acts to promote force readiness.

DOD Instruction 6400.10, “DoD Coordinated Community Response to Problematic Sexual Behavior in Children and Youth,” Dec. 30, 2021: This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for the DOD-coordinated community response for preventing and responding to problematic sexual behavior in children and youth, as defined in DOD Instruction 6400.01.

DOD Manual 1402.05, “Background Checks on Individuals in Department of Defense Child Development and Youth Programs,” Jan. 24, 2017: This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibility and prescribes procedures for criminal history background checks for all existing and newly hired individuals involved in the provision of child care services as federal employees or contractors or in federal facilities to children under the age of 18.

DOD Manual 6400.01, Volume 1, “Family Advocacy Program (FAP): FAP Standards,” July 22, 2019: This instruction establishes the Family Advocacy Program and assigns responsibilities for working to prevent family maltreatment, identifying victims of abuse, assessing families experiencing domestic and child abuse, and providing treatment for those families.

Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Memorandum, “Duration of Payment for Transitional Compensation for Abused Dependents,” June 14, 2004: This directive-type memorandum implements changes to the Transitional Compensation Program mandated by congressional legislation.