Citizen Soldier Support Program (CSSP)

The Citizen Soldier Support Program (CSSP) www.citizensoldiersupport.org is a congressionally authorized, formerly DoD funded program, formerly administered through the Odum Institute for Research and Social Science at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. CSSP is a capacity-building initiative designed to strengthen community support for Service Members and their Families focusing on increasing geographic and financial access to deployment and post-deployment related behavioral health services, especially for those in rural, frontier and underserved areas

Initially, the CSSP was led by Dr. Dennis Orthner, a UNC professor of social work who had more than 30 years of experience working with the military on family and community issues.  Dr. Orthner conceived a program that would build communities’ capacity to support the families of military personnel in the National Guard and Reserve. During 2003, Dr. Orthner worked with Major General Doug Robertson, a retired Army Reserve general officer who had commanded the North Carolina-based 108th Division and was then director of the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, to plan the program. Dr. Allison Rosenberg, UNC’s associate vice chancellor for federal affairs, worked with Dr. Orthner and Maj. Gen. Robertson to propose a program for congressionally directed funding. Their proposal went forward as a priority of the Chapel Hill campus and the UNC system and received strong support from the North Carolina Congressional Delegation. The initial award of $1.8 million was for Federal Fiscal Year 2004, but funds were not available until March 2005.

The central idea of the program during it’s initial phase was that community liaisons would help communities adapt and enhance existing local programs and services to more effectively meet the needs of citizen soldiers and their families.

The authorizing legislation for CSSP was very simple…create a national demonstration program for citizen soldier support. There were no deliverables.

The program received a total of $9.2 million dollars in three tranches beginning in May 2005. Despite meeting with five (5) different Under Secretary’s of Defense for Personnel and Manpower and the direct support of two (2) currently serving Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Adm Mullen, Gen Dempsey), the program was unable to secure additional funding. Some of the efforts have continued through the generous support of the North Carolina Area Health Education Center (NC AHEC) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).

The program Director and Executive Director remain in place but have worked “pro-bono” for years. The program has no formal relationships with other organizations or entities who might misrepresent otherwise. 

CSSP set out to accomplish their goal through three (3) initial efforts:

Building Community Partnerships was an effort to expand the capacity of communities and the military to deliver services to service members and their families. Activities include training on how to build and sustain partnerships. Training was provided by CSSP to U.S. Army personnel in several regions of the United States.

Family Law Partnership was an effort to develop a network of attorneys who would provide pro bono legal assistance to National Guard and Reserve families.

Behavioral Health was an effort to promote, statewide in North Carolina and beyond, a model for providing services focused on post-traumatic-stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. This training was delivered through the N.C. Area Health Education Center (AHEC) system in partnership with the Veterans Administration (VA).

While CSSP enjoyed a great deal of success, it also had its fair share of critics who thought the program was moving too quickly to a national focus at the expense of resourcing efforts for the North Carolina National Guard and Reserves.  A review of the program in 2009 resulted in a number of structural changes which eventually lead to a unified focus on Behavioral Health. 

The behavioral health efforts similarly followed three pillars described in greater detail on this site. 

Understanding the problem (where to expect the highest demand upon service delivery systems)

  • Mapping the deployment demographics of Service members and their families (eligible and ineligible dependents)
  • Mapping resources in terms of Behavioral Health professionals and the VA
  • Identify gaps in resourcing

Building Capacity

  • Training providers to understand PTSD and traumatic brain injuries
  • Encouraging providers to panel with Tricare
  • Encourage providers to take a military history 
  • Encourage providers to enroll in CSSP’s warwithin.org provider database
  • Removing barriers to training by:
  • Delivering training in the community where they normally get their training (AHEC)
  • Offer courses online free of charge
  • Offer free CEUs accredited by their professional associations 

Connecting Service Members and their families with behavioral health resources

CSSP was a founding member of the NC Governor’s Focus on Service Members, Veterans and their Families now known as the NC Governor’s Working Group on Service Members, Veterans and their Families with hundreds of participants from scores of agencies and programs (www.ncgwg.org).

CSSP participated in the Clinton Global Initiative and the Obama era Joining Forces along with other state, regional and federal efforts around Service Member and Veteran Behavioral Health issues.

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