>  My name is Kirsten
>Clary, and I am the Family Advocacy Nurse Specialist at Brooks AFB in
>San Antonio Texas.  The purpose of my position is to decrease family
>maltreatment for at risk parents through education, support and
>referral services.  I run the First Time Parent Program at our base.
>
>Yes, Air Force aid has a program, called the Nursing Mothers Program,
>which  will provide a grant for up to six months rent of a  hospital
>grade breast pump to families enrolled in the First Time Parent
>Program (FTPP).

Kirsten,
I'm thrilled to have you post here. I have been aware of the Family
Advocacy program through the Airforce Aid Society for a couple of years
now. I live near a base and work with a lot of military families. While I
had a copy of an official letter announcing the program, it took quite a
while for me to track down the people in charge here and find out what
the requirements were.  I was originally under the impression that the
program was for families for whom renting a pump was a financial
difficulty. When I finally met the AAS program coordinators in person,
they told me that I was wrong, that it was for *any* airforce personnel
or dependents regardless of income.  I had also originally heard that the
money was a grant, not a loan, in most cases, and they reiterated this.
They also expressed interest in the option of purchasing the pump in
style as opposed to paying for pump rentals---!!!!    I don't know what
was decided there.

Well, once I finally made contact, it all seemed very clear for the
moment.  I had a handful of clients who needed pumps for sick babies or
for working, and the program also covered the cost of consults--- yay!
But after only a few successful months, someone there has left and
someone else has come in, and now my clients are again getting the
runaround for payment, or are told that they will be expected to pay it
back.  They are being questioned and their applications are not responded
to quickly, and once more we are all unsure of what to expect.
Meanwhile, another colleague of mine who lives near another base has
almost all of her military moms covered for pump rentals, though not for
consults. Go figure.

I wish very dearly that  1) an official policy would be written and
circulated to all bases that spells out specifically what is covered and
what the requirements are for applicants,  and that 2) the process would
become uniformly standard rather than having this aid be at the whim of
the local person in charge (who usually knows little of breastfeeding
issues).  Our FAMS nurse is not directly involved, nor has she wanted to
be.

Kirsten, if you have any power to influence this current scenario, I
would be thrilled!

-Lisa Marasco, BA, IBCLC
Santa Maria, CA