MyCAA is reinstated

:yes:Just letting the spouses know that the program has been reinstated for those who have existing accounts. The following is an email from militaryonesource:


A message from DoD

In the days following the announcement of a temporary pause of the Career Advancement Account - MyCAA - we have heard your feedback, suggestions and concerns.

We are pleased to tell you that the MyCAA program will resume operations on March 13, 2010, at 12 p.m., noon (EST), for military spouses who currently have existing MyCAA accounts. Because you have an existing account, you will have access to the entire Web site, including the ability to create and have financial documents approved.

Please accept my apology for the extra burden and worry you experienced when we paused the program last month. When we determined that an operational pause in the program was critical, we failed to notify you in a timely and appropriate manner. As a result of our failure, we may have lost your trust and confidence. We know we will have to work hard to restore that lost faith and are committed to doing so.

Tommy T. Thomas
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
Military Community and Family Policy

EXCELLENT NEWS!!!
I've been keeping up on the postings.

Semper Fi,
Rocky

Thank you for the update! My wife will be very pleased to know she can continue her education now.

It's good to see your efforts rewarded, ringoffire. One step after another.

Spouses 'relieved' MyCAA reinstated
Comments 21 | Recommend 0
March 13, 2010 8:30 AM
HOPE HODGE
Military spouses left without options when the Department of Defense halted a tuition assistance program in late February will have their financial aid restored.

For Jacksonville military spouse Anna Hancock, that means she’ll be able to graduate.

According to releases from the DoD, the more than 136,000 spouses enrolled the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account program (MyCAA) once again were able to receive tuition assistance as of noon Friday.

Hancock, who is completing a master’s degree in education and teaching through online courses at Liberty University in Virginia, said that when the program was halted on Feb. 16, she was in the process of registering for the final three classes she needs to get her diploma. Without funding, she was forced to drop them.

Hancock will still have to work with university officials to get her courses back on track, she said, but she said she thinks she’ll be able to do it.

“I am hugely relieved,” she said. “This has been a really stressful past couple of weeks.”

She said that after the program paused, she wrote a number of letters to legislators in Florida and North Carolina, including U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., who urged Defense Secretary Robert Gates to act on behalf of the spouses.

On Thursday, Hagan told the Daily News she would continue to fight to keep the program viable.

“I think we made this commitment and I think what we’re doing is we’re providing a great resource for our spouses,” she said. “Improving the quality of life to our military families is fundamentally important, and I want to make sure that our military spouses are taken care of so our armed men and women who are deployed don’t have to worry about their families back home.”

Tina Martin — a Jacksonville Marine wife who told the Daily News in early March that communication about the operational pause had been handled “horribly” — said the program is still not using direct communication to reach enrolled spouses. On Thursday afternoon, Martin said she was unaware that the program had been reinstated and had not received any direct notice to that effect.

“If they have e-mail addresses, I don’t see why it would be so hard to do a mass e-mail,” she said.

Martin, who is pursuing an associate degree at Coastal Carolina Community College, said that she would continue to take advantage of the MyCAA program and that the pause wouldn’t interrupt her coursework because she was already enrolled in classes when it halted.
Some challenges to the program may be ongoing.

According to a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense, Air Force Maj. April Cunningham, who spoke with the Daily News in early March, the program rapidly gained unexpected popularity, forcing its sudden halt. Re-funding current enrollees represents a “first phase” of restoration, according to releases.

The second phase remains vaguer: “The Defense Department is currently developing options for the long-term management of the program and expect to be able to announce the details soon,” officials said in a statement.

Cunningham did not immediately respond to questions about would-be applicants and the sustainability of the program moving forward.:evilgrin:

On Thursday afternoon, Martin said she was unaware that the program had been reinstated and had not received any direct notice to that effect.

And the reason for that is....I hadn't been home all day to check my email, which I see Ms. Hodge failed to point out. Because once I got home I immediately check my email and guess what?....Yes a mass email did go out to all spouses who had accounts and it was from militaryonesource.com...

I just wanted to clear that comment up...when I read it I was a little annoyed that Ms. Hodge did not put the reason I hadn't heard about the reinstatement, because I did tell her. Anyway, I very happy that it was reinstated, for myself and for all the other spouses out there

Fact of the matter, it really was poorly handled. I know girls who had to drop their classes because of it, and can't get BACK into class for another month and a half.

It's not fair to people who want to graduate ASAP.

It should have been handled properly... with advance notice prior to a semester beginning.

My 2 cents.

Tina, can't believe you're being attacked by the media for doing what's right. People always have to make others out to be wrong, despite the lack of need for it.

FYI...Tommy Thomas has officially resigned from the MyCAA program...rumor is he was fired. Hopefully the next person who takes his spot will manage funds a little bit better