This morning DoD announced the MyCAA will resume this Saturday!  Spouses currently enrolled in MyCAA, me included, are breathing a sigh of relief this program has been reinstated.  Interrupting our regular programing, our March 2nd radio show features reactions from military spouses affected the shutdown.  By popular demand, we also decided to let it run for an additional week to bring awareness and call spouses to action to speak out.  On the show we highlight the MyCAA Facebook page “Take Action Against MyCAA Shutdown”,  which features 2,000 plus milspouses in just two short weeks.  For spouses who have yet to be approved, we will keep you updated on any new announcements for open enrollment.

Bravo Zulu to all the military spouses who were spurred into action and commented on the Facebook page, listened to the show, wrote their Congressmen and Senators, talked to the press and raised awareness on this issue.  Your voices were heard and made a difference!!

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 announce 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. Those who have an existing account will have access to the entire Web site, including the ability to create and have financial documents approved.

We are currently developing options for the long-term management of the program and expect to be able to announce the details soon. Until then, no new accounts can be created. During this time, Military OneSource Spouse Education and Career Consultants will continue to be available to provide education and training, career exploration, assessment, employment readiness and career search assistance.

https://aiportal.acc.af.mil/mycaa/

Stars and Stripes has also just released this story:

Spouse education program payouts to resume Saturday

By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, March 12, 2010

ARLINGTON, Va. — A program that offers up to $6,000 to military spouses for education-related expenses will resume on Saturday, but it will not accept new applicants, a Defense Department spokesman said.

The My Spouse Career Advancement Accounts was established in March 2009, but due to an unexpected surge in demand, the program was suddenly put on hold last month.

The 136,583 people already enrolled in the program will be able to receive the money again starting on Saturday, said Marine Col. David Lapan.

“We made a commitment to our military spouses when they established a career advancement account and we will be true to our promises,” Tommy Thomas, deputy under secretary of defense, military community and family policy, said in a news release.

It is not yet known if the program will accept new applicants in the future, Lapan told reporters on Thursday.

“This is the first step of how the department is going to address this program,” he said. “There will be other things in the future that we’ll come back and talk about when we have them.”

The department is looking at how to fund the program in the future, Lapan said. He could not say where the funding to restart the program came from in the department’s budget.

“Until new accounts can be created, Military OneSource Spouse Education and Career Consultants will continue to be available to provide education and training, career exploration, assessment, employment readiness and career search assistance,” the Defense Department news release said.

News last month that the program had been suspended came as a surprise to many participating students, who suddenly found that they could no longer access their accounts.

“One day I went to sign in on my account and there was nothing there, it was frozen,” Jennifer Hemm, a student with University of Maryland University College in Europe, told Stars and Stripes earlier this month. “The program was very beneficial — this is upsetting.”

A senior defense official conceded Wednesday that the department did a poor job letting people know why the program was put on hiatus.

“We know we must make a concerted effort to restore our credibility and confidence with our military spouses, servicemembers and the American public,” said Clifford Stanley, undersecretary for personnel and readiness.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68631

I’m feeling pretty grateful this benefit has been reinstated and thank all those involved in pushing for the reinstatement of MyCAA.

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If you listen to the show then you know Marla and I both use MyCAA.

Its just been announced MilitaryOneSource.com has ceased accepting/processing applications.

This is not good.

From the ArmyTimes

Spouse tuition aid shuts down without warning

By Karen Jowers – Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 17, 2010 16:44:33 EST

Defense officials have abruptly shut down the My Career Advancement Accounts, a program that gives qualified military spouses up to $6,000 in tuition assistance to help them pursue portable careers.

Officials said the MyCAA shutdown is temporary, but no date has been set for resuming operations. Officials “hope to resume accepting financial assistance applications in a few months,” Defense Department spokeswoman Air Force Maj. April Cunningham said.

Cunningham said defense officials are “reviewing the software applications, financial assistance documents and overall program,” but she offered no specific details on the reason for the sudden halt and review.

“We’re reviewing it from top to bottom to ensure the program is meeting the intent established in legislation,” she said.

Meanwhile, spouses are finding out about the program shutdown at the worst time — when they are trying to request funding for classes that start within a month.

“I found out this morning when I logged in to have money sent to my school,” said Army wife Julie Thornton, who lives near Fort Gordon, Ga. Her education plan had been approved, and she had registered for two courses at Augusta State University. But the MyCAA program regulations require that spouses must wait until 30 days before classes start to request payment of funds to their schools. When Thornton called Military OneSource to ask what to do, she said, she was told that employees were informed at 4 p.m. Feb. 16 that the program was shutting down.

“I can’t use the application to get the funds for courses already approved,” Thornton said. She is taking refresher courses to get her teaching credentials up to date.

When she asked a Military OneSource consultant about what to do, she said, “I was told, ‘Can’t you apply for other financial assistance?’ Where else can I get funds in 30 days?”

Cunningham said no new or pending financial assistance accounts will be approved during the review period.

Without any formal announcement of the program’s existence, nearly 133,000 military spouses have applied for the MyCAA program since it started early last year, Cunningham said. Currently, 98,000 are enrolled in courses or have been approved for tuition assistance.

Although the financial assistance no longer will be available, spouses can receive career counseling support at local installations and through Military OneSource, Cunningham said.

“They should have sent an e-mail to people” in the program, Thornton said, to let them know about the halt, so people could start trying to find alternate funding.

“I sent an e-mail to DoD telling them my problem is with the way they’re handling this,” Thornton said. “It’s beyond poor.”

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