Low-Code Solution Revolutionizes Support for U.S. Army Families with Special Needs

The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) in the U.S. Department of Defense, which provides services to employees with special needs family members, was facing significant challenges due to its paper-based system. The lack of an integrated system, reliance on manual processes, and the absence of performance metrics led to dissatisfaction among service families. The system was slow, lacked transparency, and had no accountability. Furthermore, the system was unable to report case status, leading to wasted energy and time on follow-up calls and complaints. The situation was further exacerbated by the fact that active-duty personnel typically face a permanent change of station every three years, forcing families to repeat the same tedious form-filling and care justification process each time. The U.S. Congress, recognizing these issues, mandated improvements to the system, including the introduction of performance metrics, user status transparency, and robust case management features.

The customer in this case is the U.S. Department of Defense, specifically the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) which provides services to employees with special needs family members. The EFMP had been facing significant challenges due to its outdated, paper-based system, leading to dissatisfaction among service families. The U.S. Army, with 46,000 active-duty soldiers having around 55,000 family members enrolled in the EFMP, was particularly affected. The responsibility for improving the program fell to the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Division (known as 'MWR'), which led the Army’s EFMP improvement project.