FiMT Transition Mapping Study

Forces in Mind Trust has awarded £407,000 to QinetiQ and RAND Europe for a 24-month project to examine the contemporary transition challenges of personnel and families.

The project will explore what the transition process looks like for the Armed Forces community today, whether the support provided is sufficient, and what more could be done to enable ex-Service personnel and their families to make a successful transition into civilian life.

This project will seek to understand the impact on transition of both changes in how the Armed Forces serve and are employed, as well as changes within wider society.

Significant progress has been made in transition in the past decade to better support Service leavers and their families in their transition to civilian life. This has included a continuously enhanced offer from the Career Transition Partnership, re-settlement provision for Early Service Leavers, the creation of the Defence Transition Service as part of the MOD’s Holistic Defence Transition Policy, the introduction of the Veteran’s Gateway and the establishment of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs.

Despite this progress, research shows that a small number of Service leavers can still struggle and do not transition successfully to civilian life, facing significant challenges for some time after their service.

The new funding will seek to address this by examining what the transition process looks like for the Armed Forces community today, evaluating whether changes that have been made have reached the correct audience and are having the intended impact. Moreover, the project will identify what more can be done to enable ex-Service personnel and their families to make a successful transition into civilian life in the face of contemporary shifts and challenges within society at large.

The researchers will tackle the transition process for each of the three services, as well as examining how transition is communicated to Service personnel leaving the Armed Forces. By engaging stakeholders, veterans, and families, the project will construct a picture of the modern experience of transition and where the system is succeeding, and where difficulties endure.

This assessment of current transition experiences will be an essential tool in making successful policy and planning decisions to shape the future of transition, that reflect how Service life is changing in the modern era.

The study aims to understand:

1. How the transition process currently works across each of the Services.
2. How the transition process is communicated to Service leavers and their families.
3. How the process is viewed by stakeholders and recent Service leavers and their families.
4. The progress that has been made over the last ten years in the transition support available. Where possible, this should include the impact of key initiatives and services.
5. Where challenges remain. This should include an analysis of the potential impact or cost of not addressing those challenges.
6. The value to the Armed Forces Community and society of improving the transition process, enabling a successful and sustainable transition for all ex-Service personnel and their families.
7. Where support could or should be improved or resources invested, and how.
8. The current UK external environment and its impact on transition. In particular, how it may exacerbate or help to mitigate unsuccessful transition outcomes and subsequent societal costs. This should focus on areas where Service leavers and their families may be impacted to a greater extent than their civilian counterparts.

Information is being gathered via a combination of literature reviews, interviews, stakeholder input, expert judgement panels and workshops.

See the study's aims above.

This study is actively seeking to recruit 35 participants.