WHAT IS THIS?

This contract pays Leidos, Inc., a large technology and services company based in Virginia, to provide free, private counseling services to military service members and their families around the world. The counseling is confidential, meaning what people share with counselors is not reported back to military commanders.

WHY WAS THIS FUNDED?

The Military and Family Life Counseling (MFLC) program is run by the DoD (Department of Defense) to support the mental health and well-being of troops and their families. Federal law and DoD policy authorize spending on non-medical support services to help maintain a ready and healthy military force.

WHAT PUBLIC PROBLEM IS IT TRYING TO SOLVE?

Military service members and their families face high rates of stress, anxiety, relationship problems, and other personal challenges due to frequent moves, deployments, and the unique pressures of military life. Many people avoid traditional mental health care because they fear it could hurt their military careers, so this program offers a private alternative with no official records.

WHO BENEFITS?

Active-duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, and their families benefit directly through free counseling sessions. The program also employs licensed counselors stationed at military installations and communities worldwide.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

Because the contract is large and spans six years, there is a risk of limited competition or cost overruns that are hard to catch early. The confidential nature of the counseling, while important for encouraging use, also makes it harder to measure whether the program is producing real improvements in mental health outcomes.

WHAT HAPPENS IF FUNDING IS REMOVED?

If this contract were cancelled, hundreds of thousands of military families could lose access to free, private counseling services, potentially leaving serious mental health and family problems unaddressed. The DoD would need to find a replacement program quickly or risk gaps in support for service members who may already be reluctant to seek help.

ARGUMENTS FOR

• •Military families face unique, intense stressors and deserve dedicated mental health support that civilian programs may not fully address.
• •Confidential counseling encourages more people to seek help without fear of career consequences, potentially preventing crises before they escalate.
• •Investing in service member well-being can improve military readiness and reduce costly problems like attrition, misconduct, and suicide.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST

• •At 1.2 billion dollars, this is a very large single-vendor contract, which raises questions about whether competitive bidding produced the best value for taxpayers.
• •The lack of official records makes it difficult to evaluate whether the counseling is actually effective or whether the money is being well spent.
• •Some critics argue that the government could serve more people at lower cost by expanding existing military medical and mental health infrastructure rather than outsourcing to a private company.