Regulations kill Relationships?

This is for my Army Wives and fellow FRG devotees.  Apologies to my civilian friends, for this post will surely make no sense.

I've been doing FRG work for quite a while and I really, really do make an effort to be knowledgeable about the rules and regs.  Of course, if you've done FRG work, you know there are TONS of rules. DA has theirs, then Garrison gets to issue their guidance, JAG throws in their two cents, as well as other agencies like MWR and DECA, the BDE issues their requirements, BN adds to those with theirs and finally, the company gets to create a group that is designed just for the families they serve, as long as it meets the requirements of everyone listed above.  *whew*  Then, just when you think you’ve managed to learn and understand the necessary rules, they change and you start over again.

I will confess that when I started FRG work, I lamented the lack of rules and guidelines for "how" to do the FRG job.  There was a lack of motivation from some levels of leadership (yup, I'll say it...Company Commanders!) to really push the FRG program or to enforce any consistent standards.  This changed as we neared deployment, but most of the FRG standards and rules originated from our BDE and BN leaders – both forward and Rear Detachment. I often thought that the FRG Leader’s Manual was sorely lacking in “real” info on how to run an FRG and what the minimum standards were.  

Needless to say, when the new FRG manual was published in 2008, I was pretty pleased.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was a darn sight better than anything we’d had before. I was also pretty psyched when we arrived here at Ft Lewis and I found out ACS was taking the time to teach a real FRG Leaders Fundamentals course and Treasurers course.  So, please don’t take any of this to mean that I am opposed to FRG rules and regulations in general.  I welcome the oversight and the effort to ensure a minimum FRG operational standard for ALL military families, not just those that have some very motivated volunteers or command teams.  

My concern is that with the level of FRG Regulation we currently have, we are effectively hamstringing FRG Leaders and their volunteers.  The time honored Army notion of “adding to, but not taking away from” issued guidance is alive and kicking in FRG world, but the net effect once every interested party has their say, is an FRG operational box that is impossibly tiny.  The FRGs operate at the company level for a reason – they are most effective at the grassroots level because they have an immediate connection to the members and can quickly respond and adapt to the needs of their particular group dynamic.  I’ve seen some very vibrant and interesting FRG organizational approaches and the current regulations do not “permit” something that deviates from a Leader/Co-Leader, Advisor, Treasurer/Treasurer Alternate, approach. This excludes the possibility of groups operating under a council approach – with 3-5 or so members serving as the leadership council for the group.  Mandating the Treasurer’s position also puts an unnecessary emphasis on fundraising and money matters.  I sometimes feel like a broken record saying this but the true reason for an FRG is NOT fundraising and social activities.  The FRG’s primary mission is communication, information and resource referral.  The FRG must facilitate two-way communication between the command team and the family members, with the goal of keeping family members informed about unit activities, deployments, etc. and keeping the command informed of community/family concerns. FRGs are should also be local resource experts for family members in need.  Social activities and fundraisers are nice and can serve a valuable team building and moral-enhancing effect, but if you can’t communicate effectively with your members, no one will know to attend your events.  If you can’t communicate time-sensitive, important information to your family members, your group may as well not exist.

The financial requirements for the FRGs are a hornet’s nest in and of themselves.  I’ll be the first to admit that this is a tricky thing since there have been problems with fraud, abuse and IRS violations.  On the other hand, this is a group of volunteers trying to provide a small service to its members in an informal way.  The “Informal” fund has spawned quite a few formal regulations, including Standard Operating Procedures, annual and quarterly audits, monthly financial reporting and background checks for money handlers. 
The level of procedural requirements, documentation and time needed to manage an FRG, both operationally and financially, and to oversee FRG operations has grown significantly over the last five years.  The Army, along with other services, has clearly recognized this by creating the Family Readiness Support Assistant jobs at the battalion level in an effort to take some of the record keeping and administrative tasks off of the FRG Leaders.  The success of that program is debatable and varies widely depending on the individuals involved; that is a whole other debate and treatise by itself.  Despite this effort, there is still a tremendous amount of time involved in managing and overseeing FRGs.  

From my perspective, there appears to be a disconnect between the level of procedural requirements and the expended time/effort by unit officials to train, implement and enforce those standards.  The reality is that an active duty unit has many pressing priorities, especially during a pre-deployment phase, and the FRG does not get the attention its’ regulations and rules require to ensure consistency between programs.  SOPs are drafted quickly, with little thought as to what they actually state.  “Audits” are checklists that are done in about five minutes, when they are actually completed, and fail to pick up on red flags in the record keeping or documentation.  I’ve seen some audits that actually fabricate portions of the results or the documents provided for the audit were fabricated three days prior.  As a volunteer, I want to know that my effort is for good reason and makes a difference. I don’t wish to go through motions to appear in compliance.  For me, things like this make all the rules, regulations and audits a complete waste of time.  The truth and validity behind them is completely destroyed when they are inconsistently enforced or blatantly outmaneuvered.

I’ll be completely honest here: I don’t know that I have the answer on how to fix this.  And I can’t say that I’m totally qualified to figure out how. I will be the first to admit that I am operating from a micro perspective….the grassroots level.  I lack the macro view that those involved in FRG policy making at BN, BDE, Division, Garrison, or Department of the Army may have.  I know from experience that sometimes the view from above is very different from the view at the bottom, in both good and bad ways. Further, the military and it’s internal bureaucracies are a complex beast to maneuver and master.  I continue to serve in FRG positions because I believe in the mission of a Family Readiness Group.  The FRG is valuable as a link between families and the unit’s command teams and as a go-to source for information and resources. FRG volunteers are valuable mentors for new families.  This is my passion and my motivation for serving as I do.  Perhaps, this is the answers:  SIMPLIFY.  Don’t simply the regulations just to simply them, SIMPLIFY the roles and tasks of the FRG.  Return to the roots of communication and resource referrals.  This group is about relationships and connecting people…not parties, not fundraising, not memos and not reports.  People matter.