Army Emergency Relief no longer requires most soldiers to go through their chain of command for permission to get emergency financial assistance \u2014 interest-free loans or grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move, which puts AER in line with the other military relief societies that have long had such a policy, removes concerns that seeking help from this worthy, no-cost resource may negatively affect your career when you’re blindsided by an unplanned car repair or family emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It does involve a culture change in some units, if leaders believe they should know when a soldier asks for AER help. But Charles Durr, the relief society’s chief of assistance, counters by saying the bottom line is that leaders also don’t know when soldiers go to other, potentially more problematic sources for money, such as payday lenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tipping point for the decision “really was looking at the number of soldiers taken advantage of” by predatory lenders, said Durr, a retired command sergeant major. “It was clear to Army leadership we needed to give them unimpeded access” to AER.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If they truly need help, they’re going to get it some place,” said Air Force Aid Society CEO John Hopper Jr., a retired Air Force lieutenant general. “If they think it would reflect poorly on them and don’t want to go to Air Force Aid Society, they may go to a payday lender.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFAS does not require command approval in most cases, but Hopper notes that in at least 30 percent of cases, airmen come to the society at the suggestion of their first sergeants or commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AER leaders have seen a 35 percent decline in requests for assistance from active-duty members over the last six years, a trend line steeper than the overall Army personnel drawdown, Durr said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it’s too early to gauge the new policy’s impact, officials have seen an uptick in the number of cases coming to AER and dollar amount of assistance rendered, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AER gradually has been widening access. By the start of 2014, it allowed direct access to AER assistance for soldiers in paygrades E-5 and above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exceptions to the policy revision are soldiers in basic training and Advanced Individual Training, as well as those with less than one year of service; they’ll still have to go through their chain of command. Soldiers with financial problems, significant debt or a history of personal financial mismanagement must be referred to their chain of command and installation financial counselors for guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To combat problems with predatory lenders, the relief societies have payday loan alternatives. AER’s Commander’s Referral Program, under which company commanders and first sergeants can quickly approve interest-free loans of up to $1,500, provides about 41 percent of emergency assistance, Durr said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFAS’s Falcon Loan program, offering up to $750 in interest-free loans, makes up 49 percent of its emergency financial assistance, Hopper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2014, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society provided Quick Assist Loans to more than 10,000 active-duty sailors and Marines \u2014 up to $500 within 15 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relief societies and those who donate to them understand that life can deal financial blows. Make them your first choice when that happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aid groups try to help personnel resist the temptations of predatory lenders by providing small short-term loans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":54738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":83,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[83,15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3302],"class_list":["post-25875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-benefits","category-pay-benefits"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AYNJMNXOWZHXHFAGJXH2Y436YM","arc_canonical_url":"\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/2015\/09\/26\/mission-family-troops-get-easy-access-to-relief-societies-help\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n