Child life specialists in the most basic sense are, “trained professionals with expertise in helping children and families overcome life's most challenging events” (Child Life Council, n.d). While the vast majority of certified child life specialists (CCLS) practice in hospital settings there is a growing demand for child life supports beyond the hospital.
With one-half of American military personnel currently married with children and nearly 500,000 children under the age of eight experiencing the deployment of one or both parents (Petty, 2009), the potential benefit of child life services for the military family population needs to be reviewed and child life interventions developed.