Did you get a pay change in January of 2023? Then you may have qualified for the basic needs allowance (BNA). January 2023 is when the basic needs allowance was implemented for service members with dependents who completed initial training and whose gross household income falls below 130% of federal poverty guidelines.

It is no shock that with rising inflation and rising home and rental prices across the nation, it is not surprising that the military is looking for ways to provide basics to their service members. Many of these families are military service members.  The Basic Needs Allowance is a supplemental monthly payment for service members with at least one dependent who is registered in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS. In order to qualify, the service members’ gross household income in the previous year and the current year’s annualized gross income falls below 130% of federal poverty guidelines. The poverty level is not one specific number but is calculated by the number of people in the family. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 130 percent of the poverty line for a family of three is $2495 a month, or about $29,940 a year. More people in the family means that the annual income could be higher overall, but they still meet the poverty level guideline.

Each military service branch reviews each service member to determine if there is eligibility. Each service branch also has applications for Basic Needs Allowance. If you or someone you know is looking to apply for Basic Needs Allowance, ask your administrative shop or unit leaders for the application process.

The amount of allowance is to cover the difference between wages to the poverty guideline. For example, if a service member’s income is $300 below 130% of the federal poverty guideline, they would receive $300. This income is considered taxable. Because it is taxable income, it may affect eligibility for other programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Before applying for BNA, service members are encouraged to talk to base groups like New Parent Support, who may be able to help determine its effects.

This allowance will be approved annually, so to continue to receive it year after year, service members must reapply. If the family size changes, a PCS occurs, or a raise occurs, the eligibility will be re-evaluated.

It is noted on the DFAS page that BNA is optional. Service members can not apply or also decline the allowance.

Specific service contact information:

• Navy – https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/References/Pay-Benefits/NC/
• Marine Corps – https://www.manpower.usmc.mil/webcenter/portal/MPO/pages_compensation
• Air Force – Contact the Total Force Service Center, email: afpc.dp1ssb.specialpays@us.af.mil
• Coast Guard: email: Compensation@USCG.mil
• Army: no current contact information available

Show Appreciation

There are many ways to show appreciation for those who lost their lives in military service on Memorial Day. Check-in with Veterans of Foreign Wars and local cemeteries to see if there are local cemeteries in your area that could use help with wreath and flag laying. Arlington National Cemetery is home to the Tomb of the Unknown, which is guarded every day with a wreath laid in front of it.

Donate to Memorial Day Flowers, supporting flowers being laid on Memorial Day.

The Veteran Affairs Organization National Cemetery Administration typically hosts public Memorial Day ceremonies in national cemeteries on Memorial Day. Volunteers can place flags in front of Veteran headstones in the days prior to Memorial Day. There are more than 120 national cemeteries across the nation. Check for events near you here.

Plan ahead and support Wreaths Across America. Wreaths are laid every December through this organization. You can donate year-round with funds and offer to volunteer to lay wreaths at the cemeteries across the country in the month of December as part of National Wreaths Across America Day.

Learn

Plan a trip to a local history museum to learn about the history of your area and America. Learning about what has happened and what lead to those activities shapes understanding.

Check out a National Park near you to learn and experience the history of the park.

Wear a Poppy

The red poppy came to symbolize the blood shed during wartime battle described in the poem In Flanders Fields by LT Colonel John McCrae. Wearing the poppy is a symbol of remembering those who lost their lives in military service. If you don’t have a poppy to wear, fashion one out of paper to wear in honor.

Celebrate Together

When military service members serve overseas, they are doing it for their family and their country. They want to protect their family members from harm.  Like Steve Rogers said in Captain America when Dr. Erskine asked him why he continued to try to serve despite being told no many, many times. “I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from.” Service is not for themselves. When a military member passes, they don’t want their loved ones to stop celebrating. Memorial Day is a day to reflect on the losses of America, but it is also a time to celebrate what we do have. Get together for a meal with your friends. Plan an elaborate barbeque if you want to. Don’t avoid it, do it in the service of remembering them and celebrating their life.

Watch the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS. The 90-minute concert is a combination of tributes and performances. Avid military supporter Gary Sinise will perform along with the US Navy Band Sea Chanters, The US Air Force Singing Sergeants, the US Army Chorus, and the US Army Herald Trumpets.

Spring will quickly turn to summer, which means the height of PCS season will soon arrive. Each year, more than 400,000 service members and their families move from one duty station to the next.  There about 1.2 million military children, and while they are not all moving each year, about one-third of them move in a typical year. If your military family is facing a move with kids, help your children prepare for the military move with these tips.

Tell them early.

This one is key. Telling the children allows for processing in their own time. Just as adults need time to process this news, children do. It helps them decide how to share this information. Some children choose not to share this with their friends to avoid being shunned way before the move, as has happened to them. Some children decide to share the news to plan to stay connected with their friends.

Younger children, those under 5, probably do not know what to do with this information or will do or say anything different. This tip is most important for school-age children.

Give them Ownership

Military children move from their schools and homes at the whim of the military. The frequent moves and changes that are not something they oversee can lead to feelings of frustration and defeat. Help them by giving them something to remain in charge of – packing their suitcase and backpack. Give them something that will be their own that they can oversee. This is age dependent. If your six-year-old only packs underwear, you may want to help guide them, but this will give them power over some of the change.

Involve Them

Another age-dependent activity, but involve them as you can. If your teen can help pack up books, or your middle schooler can sort through clothes with their siblings to determine what can be donated, give them that task. This enables you to remove a task from your to-do list, which will, in turn, give you more downtime together as a family. It also gives them a job as part of the move.

Ask Them

Ask them about their feelings and opinions. Check-in days and weeks after the move to discuss their feelings and concerns. Value their time and their feelings. According the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, moving frequently impacts children’s psychological well-being and social relationships. By talking about these feelings, validating their concerns, the stress of the move can lessen. While nothing can make the stress of moving completely disappear, being open as a family about the feelings and concerns is key to maintaining a solid family relationship.

Create a PCS Binder

This one is a favorite of ours. After talking to the kids about the move, we create a binder together. Plans for the new home, house hunting must-haves, the new school info (if you know it), travel plans. Everyone is involved in what goes in the binder. Check out the tourism website for the new location, as there are sometimes sections of the website specifically for children with coloring sheets or ideas on what to explore when you arrive. This creates excitement about the move, in addition to the sadness and trepidation they may feel.

Plan Ahead

Find similar activities that your kids enjoy at the new location. Find a new studio with similar training or activities if your child does ballet. Find the new soccer or baseball league. Reach out to the organization to check on when their schedules come out for the next year when tryouts or auditions occur. Let your kids know what you found. It provides another thing to look forward to with familiarity with what they have enjoyed in their home.

Plan for Fun

Find something fun you want to do as a family once you arrive. While breaking away from the boxes is difficult, time together exploring a new area is valuable. Find a museum, park, or restaurant to check out a day or two after arrival. Checking the new location will build interest and connection in the new home. 

Create a PCS Bin

Pull out several special books or toys for each child and put them in a bin that will be packed at the last minute. If you are moving across the country or OCONUS, save an item or two to move along with them. If you are moving door to door, have the larger items packed last or stay in the car for the drive. The constancy of their favorite things will be a comfort. 

Keep Routines

Whatever routines you can keep, do. Keep naptime the same for younger children. Keep the bedtime routine as similar as possible for children and adults. While the location may change, the consistency of the same routine will help with the adjustment for the packing, moving, and new home.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the face of medicine. While initially, non-emergency medical offices closed. Eventually, a shift to telehealth visits occurred. Medicare has announced that it will cover telehealth visits through 2023 with a plan for discussion on coverage before that time. TRICARE, also a federal health insurance, will continue to cover telemedicine visits. This includes overseas personnel!

Moving overseas is a big disruption in personal life but also in medical care. It shifts many members from service out in town to services in a military hospital or clinic, which can be a big change for many. Telemedicine visits provide flexibility for some to continue their current treatment, and perhaps even with the same medical group they were seeing in the past, depending on a few key factors.

Telemedicine coverage by country will depend on the country where the military personnel is stationed. TRICARE will cover telemedicine visits as long as the country allows telemedicine care; a TRICARE-authorized provider provides the care, and the provider follows all health and telemedicine rules.

Finding a telemedicine provider while living overseas is not always easy. To find a TRICARE provider that can provide care to those members insured by TRICARE Prime Overseas and TRICARE Prime Remote Overseas, look on the resource provider search page here. Select the region an, country, and TRICARE location and click search. Make sure to select “Telemedicine” as the specialty provider.

In addition, make sure that the medical concern is a TRICARE-covered service by searching here.

TRICARE does cover some telehealth mental health services. As said above, this is limited to certain diagnoses and treatments with the recent proposed DEA changes. Any care will need to be with a TRICARE network provider. Active-duty members must have a referral from their primary care provider. Dependents and retirees do not need a referral from the primary care provider. Overseas questions about telehealth mental services care can be reviewed at www.tricare-overseas.com

Telehealth services provide flexibility for the patient to continue to care no matter where they are, all dependent on state and federal laws. It is a great service that many patients have utilized and preferred during the pandemic, and the federal government has said they will continue to adapt guidelines to continue to provide this capability. Have you used telemedicine visits in the last three years? Will you continue?

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. There will soon be ads galore for Mother’s Day meals or celebrations at local restaurants and stores. While the ads are touting the “deal” that they are offering, the reality is that many restaurants actually upcharge on Mother’s Day. Avoid the extra cost but still spoil mom this Mother’s Day with brunch at home.

Décor

One budget-friendly way to add décor is to make it your own, or reuse what you have. Easter-colored items with their pastel colors will add a beautiful accent to the table – add the easter colored grass to a cleaned-out beach bucket and add a sign around the bucket or in it that says “Mom, we love you buckets and buckets!” or “Buckets of Love For You Mom!” You can also reuse Valentine’s Day decorations using the hearts and heart garland around Mom’s chair – even better, make hearts with sweet messages on it! You can use the made hearts as placemats, place cards, and menu lists. Anything that is homemade is a hit with moms – and if you do it with handprints – even better!

Don’t Forget A Card!

Make handprint hearts or handprint cards. Use a handprint and add a cut cupcake wrapper to the bottom of the handprint with the words “you are the sweetest mom” as a card. Or cut out handprints for ladybugs or butterfly wings for cards. There are so many awesome ways to give something sweet to mom that also memorializes the small handprints as the kids grow. Don’t forget about your pets – pet paw print card ideas are all over Pinterest.

Drinks

No special menu is complete without a signature drink. Consider these mocktails so the whole family can enjoy them!

Grapefruit Mocktail

Make grapefruit and honey syrup by mixing equal parts juice and honey in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let thicken.

To a drink shaker filled with ice, add 3 TBL grapefruit-honey syrup and 1 1/2 cups of grapefruit juice. Shake well, pour into your desired glass, and add fresh rosemary sprigs to the cup to dress up the drink.

If your family is not a fan of grapefruit or sweets, consider making some blackberry lemonade.

Blackberry Lemonade

The first step is to make a blackberry-lemon syrup – stir together 2 cups of cold water with 4-6 tsp of sugar with the juice of one lemon.

To a pitcher, add ice and lemonade.

Muddle 10 blackberries, and once they are coarse, add 2-4 sage leaves to muddle together. Add this combination to the lemonade with thinly sliced lemons into the lemonade. Mix together, and voila!

Meal

Fruit Salad

Make this with any fresh and seasonal fruit that is available to you. You can leave the chopped fruit alone or add on a honey-lemon dressing.  One favorite topping in our house is adding some shredded coconut – it adds a variety in texture.

Eggs Benedict

This is the ultimate luxurious meal. It takes a lot of effort and planning. If you need some shortcuts, consider getting a Hollandaise sauce packet and precut Canadian Ham and English Muffins or toast. If you have all these items, all you need to do is poach the eggs.

The easiest way to poach the eggs is to heat about 2 inches of water in a 10-inch skillet, and add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Crack an egg into a custard cup or small bowl. Once the water is at a simmer, not a boil, slowly add the eggs. Each egg will take about 3-5 minutes to cook. Gently remove the eggs and place them on the warmed English muffin and ham. Top with the hollandaise sauce, and enjoy!

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

If poached eggs aren’t your thing, try a Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole. Casseroles are great because you can prep them the night before, put them in the fridge overnight, and they are ready to go in the oven the next morning. You can make it with whatever your preference is – chorizo, or turkey sausage or no meat at all and all veggies. Use your favorite cheese. The base of hashbrowns will take on any flavors you add.

Thaw shredded hash browns and place them in the bottom of a 9×12 greased baking dish.  Mix in 1-2 cups of your choice of shredded cheese, one diced red bell pepper, one diced green bell pepper, and ¼ cup finely diced onion to the hashbrowns. In a bowl, mix 1 cup of milk of choice with eight eggs – or swap for egg whites. To the eggs, add ½ tsp salt, ¼ – ½ tsp black pepper, and ½ tsp Italian Seasoning and mix. Once the egg-spice mixture is combined, pour it onto the hashbrown-pepper-onion-cheese combo. If you want to add meat, add the cooked meat to the hashbrown base.

Once you are ready to make it, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake uncovered to 55-60 minutes, until totally cooked through.

Relax

Don’t make Mom clean up after the meal – make a plan for who will do what. Younger children can bring the dishes to the kitchen, and older kids can wash dishes and put items away.

Moms generally don’t need or want gifts, but they do want time together where they don’t have to plan or cook or stress- this provides that for moms.

If your mom is away from home serving or working this year, this one is for you. You can still celebrate the awesome way Mom completes the family puzzle by preparing a kind surprise for Mom in a way of a “care package” to enjoy whenever and wherever she is.

Key Notes:

If your Mom is in a country that has restrictions on what can be mailed into the country, make sure to know what they are before including that item in your box. Customs will remove the item from the box and leave a note if they randomly inspect that box.

Always Handmade

Mothers love a handmade touch. Whether it is a card made from the heart or a kitted scarf, having something made with your love, care, and design. If she is gone for various holidays, consider making a garland with tissue paper or felt for the specific holiday they will be missing. Being gone for holidays important to the family can be difficult, so having a sweet reminder from home can make it an easier time apart.

Care Package

Whether Mom will be near or far on Mother’s Day, a care package is a sweet way to show love to Mom. Start with the packaging itself.

If you are sending a box, decorate the inside flaps of the box – stickers, box flaps, photos or hand-drawn pictures are amazing touches.

What you include in the box will really depend on what Mom likes, so pick and choose items best for your mom:

– succulent – this will only work for a care package or bag given to mom who is nearby, do not try to mail plants

– hand lotion

– candle – again, don’t try to mail candles very far due to their potential melting in the box

– bath bombs or bath salts – Moms don’t often take time for themselves, but this will give them time to take a long, luxurious bath

– shower steamer – if Mom isn’t a bath person, a shower steamer still provides a lavish experience

– notebook – a great way to manage stress is writing it all out – no matter where Mom is, giving her a nice notebook to journal, draw, or write out to-do lists in will be useful

– coffee or tea – If mom drinks one of these, get a fancier version so Mom can have a nice cuppa at home or wherever she is

– nice honey – if Mom is a tea drinker, get a local honey to enjoy – bonus it will combat if there are any allergies

– sweet treat – chocolate or a favorite treat for mom is always a nice gesture

– sleeping mask – this is key if mom is somewhere where she works shift work or traveling often, get a soft one to really pamper Mom

The key is to make the gift for your Mom, and add in what she likes and enjoys so that even if she is working or gone, she knows and is reminded that she is loved.