FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2023
Silver Spring, MD — Easterseals DC MD VA has received funding from the Bob Woodruff Foundation to help offset mental healthcare costs for the children served by the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic (Cohen Clinic) at Easterseals.
While any child can develop feelings of anxiety or depression, the stress of having a deployed parent and the isolation caused by frequent moves are particular to growing up in a military family. The Cohen Clinic exists to help post-9/11 veterans, service members, and their families – including children as young as 4 – manage these conditions and reduce the risk of more serious concerns in the future.
But affording their child’s therapy can put a strain on military families’ already tight budgets. For those enrolled in the military healthcare program Tricare, copays for mental healthcare services can range between $36 and $49 per visit. Additional sessions or multiple family members receiving therapy drive that total up even higher.
At the Cohen Clinic, cost is never a barrier to the high-quality behavioral healthcare needed to thrive. Military children receive crucial therapy regardless of ability to pay. In fact, 7% of children served by the clinic came from uninsured households last year.
The investment from the Bob Woodruff Foundation will help the clinic cover costs that families are unable to pay. With this grant, an anticipated 50 military and veteran households with children in the greater Washington, DC area are expected to be served.
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Easterseals DC MD VA – Easterseals is leading the way to full equity, inclusion, and access through direct and life-changing disability and community services. Since 1945, Easterseals DC MD VA has worked tirelessly to enhance quality of life and expand access to healthcare, education, and employment. And we won’t rest until each one of us is valued, respected, and accepted. Join us: www.eseal.org. Including Individuals. Empowering Families. Strengthening Communities.™
About the Bob Woodruff Foundation – The Bob Woodruff Foundation was founded in 2006 after reporter Bob Woodruff was wounded by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq. Since then, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has raised awareness about the tough challenges veterans and military families are facing, and invested in solutions to help support them in the next chapter of their lives. To date, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has invested over $157 million to ensure that our nation’s veterans, service members and their families — those who stood for us — have stable and successful futures. Visit the Bob Woodruff Foundation for more information.
Contact: Lauren Poon, Manager of Communications & Marketing, lpoon@eseal.org
