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CRB to deal with family maltreatment

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tamika Edwards
  • 305th Logistics Readiness Squadron
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, NJ. --  The Central Registry Board was launched at McGuire March 5. Brooks City-Base, Texas, developed this pilot program as guidance on how the Air Force deals with and defines family maltreatment. There are approximately 120-125 incidents of alleged family maltreatment reported to the McGuire AFB Family Advocacy Program each year. The CRB makes the determination as to whether the allegations meet or do not meet the Air Force definition for abuse or neglect. 

The CRB is not specific to McGuire, it is an Air Force-wide program being phased in to replace the Family Maltreatment Case Management Team. The vast difference between the CRB and FMCMT is the make up of the committees. The CRB is chaired by the vice wing commander and membership includes the staff judge advocate, security forces, Office of Special Investigation, Family Advocacy officer, command chief master sergeant and the member's unit commander. 

Unit commanders now not only sit on the board, but they are voting members for the cases involving members from their respective squadrons. Joe Haefner, Family Advocacy program assistant, said that one reported benefit to this change is "they (active-duty members) feel more secure that somebody is acting on their behalf." 

The FMCMT functions are now divided between two meetings; CRB, which is a wing process and clinical case staffing, which is a part of the FAP. The CRB makes determinations on alleged maltreatment, and the CCS manages the cases and recommends services for families such as counseling and referrals to other helping agencies. In response to the recent change, Capt. Shannon Davis, Family Advocacy officer, said, "It's going smoothly, and we have had very positive feedback from everyone." 

The CRB hears cases on physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and neglect. There are strict guidelines and criteria for determining whether or not an allegation meets the Air Force definition for maltreatment. Once information on the case is presented, a show-of-hands vote determines whether or not a non-accidental act was committed, and if so, whether or not there was significant impact from the act. The findings are entered into a DoD Central Registry database maintained by Brooks City-Base. 

There are many ways which FAP hears about family maltreatment. An important thing to remember is that AFI 40-301 states that all active-duty members and civilian employees of the Air Force will report all incidents of suspected family maltreatment to the FAP. Chaplains and Area Defense Counsel are the only potential exclusions.