It has been just a little over a month since our annual OneOp Virtual Conference entitled “Relationships for Readiness”. The 2019 three-day conference was a great opportunity to showcase the innovative ways that service providers and educators can rethink their work with military families.
The primary focus of this year’s conference was on the Department of Defense’s Family Readiness System. Explained in full detail in this article from Military One Source, the Family Readiness System is all about the network of programs and services that increase the quality of life for service members and their families, as well as promoting collaboration within this network. It is in this spirit of collaboration that we as helping professionals can bridge the gap and work across disciplines, making resources more readily available for military families.
The OneOp 2019 VC opening session provided the foundation of the what the Family Readiness System is and featured several panelists from various backgrounds for an in depth discussion on how the Family Readiness System can work for you. The remaining sessions over the three-day conference focused on issues such as: networking, problem solving by utilizing creative visual language (doodling), how to collaborate across boundaries, financial health and issues related to human services, and how to create a network that works for you. Each day’s sessions were also followed up with Q & A sessions to discuss questions and insights throughout the day’s events.
A really great tool that was shared for the VC was our printable Idea-Catcher Journal! This pdf printable journal was provided for those who wanted to have a space to doodle and capture their thoughts in a visually represented way. Our Family Development team utilized this journal and it helped us to map out our professional networks. Here is the link to the Idea-Catcher Journal should you choose to use it when watching the archived recordings of the 2019 VC.
If you happened to miss out on these great sessions, follow this VC 2019 link to the virtual conference main page. Click the titles for session descriptions and the archived recordings for each session, as well as recordings of the Making Connections Q & A sessions that took place daily. Also, there are multiple types of continuing education credits that are provided for all six sessions; follow this CE credits link for more info and requirements.
References
Military One Source (2018). Family Readiness System. Retrieved from: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/family-relationships/family-life/keeping-your-family-strong/family-readiness-system
This post was written by members of the OneOp Family Development Team. The Family Development team aims to support the development of professionals working with military families. Learn more about us at https://oneop.org/family-development, and connect with us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Subscribe to our Anchored. podcast series on iTunes and via our podcast page.
