Agencies meet to coordinate services on Okinawa

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Agencies meet to coordinate services on Okinawa
By Natasha Lee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, February 2, 2009

TORII STATION, Okinawa — The newly established Joint Service Family Support Network met Thursday to identify ways to improve the delivery of services and programs to servicemembers and their families on the island.

The network — an Army-funded initiative that started in June — aims to connect existing services offered through the military’s four branches, in order to share resources and develop ways to work together to better serve the people who utilize their services, said Jaimel Lee, the network’s community support coordinator. Coordinators hope the network will increase partnerships between agencies.

More than 40 representatives from base agencies attended the meeting, including Tricare, the USO, 18th Support Services, Marine Corps Community Services, USA Girl Scouts Overseas-West Pacific, and the Military & Family Life Consultant program.

Similar networks exist at Camp Zama in mainland Japan and on Guam, Lee said.

Air Force Col. Steven Kimball, commander of Army and Air Force Exchange Service for the Pacific region, said one of network’s goals is to pull in service organizations that may be underutilized or unfamiliar, and increase their visibility to other agencies and to the public.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60407