Military Children and Families (Fall 2013 issue of The Future of Children).

This issue of The Future of Children seeks to integrate existing knowledge about the children and families of today's United States military; to identify what we know (and don't know) about their strengths and the challenges they face, as well as the programs that serve them; to specify directions for future research; and to illuminate the evidence (or lack thereof) behind current and future policies and programs that serve these children and families. At the same time, it highlights how research on nonmilitary children and families can help us understand their military-connected counterparts and, in turn, how research on military children can contribute both to a general understanding of human development and to our knowledge of other populations of American children. The articles in this issue expand our knowledge and illuminate a path toward a more representative depiction of military children and their families. In this way, they not only summarize the evidence we need to enhance existing policies and programs that ameliorate risk and promote positive development among military children; they also offer a critical guide for new research to support future innovations in policies and programs. (Author abstract modified)