European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                August stars Andoff capes budget counselling n Clemond St psf Hilpl Nyji Colonna stall writer of these army Fellows Are infants when it comes to Money manage says Dennis mannheims army Community service of Menard said his office has some 60 people on the budget counselling Rolls most of whom Are referral cases by com Manders for debt we gel two Basic kinds of people in Menard said theres the passive Type woo cant say no to any j and buys everything and gets into t Way Over Hia head and then theres the Type who remembers Bow he had nothing As a kid and wants his kid and wife to have May also be the Type who re Mem Ben How Good he had it at Home and wants the same thing his parents forgetting it look them 20 years to build up to what they added Samuel dug Usa eur acs in either we arc dealing with a person in a lot of trouble and we have to try to help him Duggins said an acs Counselor will is a budget based on tha individuals help him manage his funds and Contact his creditors to work out a pay ment plan satisfactory to Menard creditors Are agree Able to just about any figuring that a Little is better than they just want their Menard we Are developing a Strong credibility with Many Malar companies in the and they have been very so we put a lot of Effort into making sure the people we arc counselling abide by the budget we set budgeting taught Menard said that while the debt is slowly being the Counselor works with the person to Leach him How to handle his once we get his debts we dont want him running out and getting into More so we teach him proper Money the Captain he said that can include consumer Edu gelling Lite most fur your Money and a told budget we even have Abugel Book Wegl Voetbe in the 31st support acs centers provide Menard said he Hopes that by units in the list sup port come will be required to give Brief uts pm Toney whal we Are trying to do is prevent the situation that has Soldier coming to us on command referral because of of in food and says Duggins Are the most common of budget we try to show people How they can cot Comers to save More Money so they can go out and make the purchases they want without getting into financial Why do people get into trouble culprit Lle aay credit easy says credit comes so easy once a Soldier reaches b5 and that it is not hard at All to Menard pointed out another area unique to military people stationed in the a Guy is working for and his wife is working full so they co out and run up these big Bills of say or More a month and have no problem meeting the All of a Midden he comes to Germany the land of no jobs and he cant get a Par time Job and his wife cant find a Hes in big financial trouble and gets a letter of and it want total Money the family just didst look far enough Down Road to realize he May get into that Peggy one of five Volunteer budget Counselor in said sol Diers often get into trouble by unwisely taking Advance and some of the Young people end up paying huge amounts on deposits for Economy housing and getting their no command sponsored families Over porker then they Are deeply in debt and they take Advance pay and end up getting smaller checks and find it difficult to make ends Advance pay Fiu Wimmil on 1 generally try to discourage anyone from taking Advance pay unless they absolutely require she Parker said she also tries to discourage her clients from buying anything from sales of firer Birring like thai is impulsive its surprising How Many people gel into trouble by buying that Menard pointed out that the majority of debt problems come from the Eslo e7 we also get some officers who eel themselves in but the Young into Over Dew he cant Hes already struggling just int about to try to spend big Money Tor a Monte Carlo w expensive Hes vet scrounging for what Pecan family Here has prob lems Rinan daily but its not because of  they just find it difficult handling the necessities hugging said that not All acs offices Are equipped to handle budget counselling and not All those that Are can do As much As he Hopes they will be Ahe la offer in the next two Menart said the average debts his office dealt with during the past year were nearly we had h people on our Active Rolls with debts we reduced that total by f year mannheims program has been one of toe most successful in Usa eur Over the past three says of the reasons is because a professional social has been in Mannheim for nearly three years and was Able to help establish a workable we developed forms and work sheets and now even bold seminars other acs centers just beginning to get into budget said a Counselor since Early Parker said the program has been very successful at one Soldier a 17 year army staff sergeant whose career was in agreed at least in his Hie sergeant said he had debts totalling about and owed Money to eight one creditor sent a letter la Parker stat that since heat the acs had been Conr dropping excess interest on the v that was really sergeant a Iovu they haunt Idis full a paying on the interest right Ive Only got a couple of payments left on Parker said she has seen Only iwo we panel do that and was quite surprised and work realistically we try to work a realistic budget for the she we have him bring in All of his income stale menu and that Wilt help in establish a then we sit Down for two or three hours and counsel him and find out what his needs Are and from there see How much Money is once we Are sure be will have enough to we take the remaining Money and Divide it up among at the we Send them each a Tetter telling item what weve done and How much we can pay per the sergeant said he brings the Money orders each month and Parker malls the and some like this i have to buy school clothes for the kids or in a Little Shell write a letter ask the company to accept a smaller pay ment for that month Joan another Mannheim Volun tear said most people in debt one step away we get a lot of people who Are lust one step away from receiving of indent often they arc in the Nti Drange of debts anywhere from to with these we arc very if a person comes in on his he is generally very concerned and very then ils easy Todeal but Parker added that not All referrals Are that we get some who just dont want if a person misses three we drop if he is a we do nothing about it be cause of the confidentiality we but we explain that he will probably be getting a letter of indebtedness soon and then will be referred Back to us by his com Mander and do command refer when we drop someone who just Doest want the we refer him Back to his we cant afford to lose our credibility with the companies in the acs striving to be known for service Aid f conf a Whf Loftt 9 necessities with appropriated in fact to v Assli in the top 10 in Prio Ritea Tat improvement programs this that is out of More than 40 different a tit Nopla Ihil wd1 said his budget request for next year is running about of that Saint been approved but that what weve asked acs is getting More financial support than Ever Duggons when i first got into the acs program 1 was a director in the Stuttgart controlling 13 we had two military people assigned and my annual budget was for All 13 my budget for is running close Tom Duggins said acs has always been a people oriented program but that the people running these programs have not always had the background to help those who really needed programs such As orientation for Economy mothers outreach for new the loan closet and welcoming committee for newly arrived set Ting up Low budget Tours and offering ideas have Long been part of the acs since it began in but now we Are trying to reach out even More and help people who often have nowhere else to Tom Are presently 70 acs in Usa eur estimated my Jotun Duggins said acs centers Are Stab in common Russ with More than woo personnel or where health and welfare Are i think the Anny is in hip an honest Effort at becoming Man people oriented and is doing what u can to provide services budget counselling is the Roost widely used counselling program in we didst have accurate statistics in the past from every Community and some acs offices didst have the resources to provide budget but now we will have better and More accurate in crisis acs when staffed by qualified people offers counselling and crisis Means Domestic Rocky marital poor Parent child relation shift and just about any thing you might consider a family or per Sonal mid capt Dennis mannheims acs other Placer come from medical service and even Menard mid we dont become involved in every be cause sometimes people brother places Wilson added that individual counselling in this area by the few qualified people at each Center would tie a Counselor up with a few people and the major program of working to prevent crisis another problem in crisis intervention programs is that of there Are Many Agenda that can become involved in this Menard Chap physic univ teachers and Ower people in the Community gel into various personal and family this to probably one of the major areas that re quire much More work before the program will really the army child advocacy program Acap is receiving increased emphasis and is involving Many people and Agen ing thai child does in the and new programs Are being developed to identify abuse and to Correct qualified acs officers Are often included in the child Protection Case management generally headed by the top medi Cal officer in the the which Are still being developed at Many of the include health chaplains social work officers and acs Duggins but acs will be More directly involved with another area under the Acap pro Gram through control o child care Cen ters throughout Usa Reuh and the funding of Foster Peter usage ufos child advocacy Laid that acs is presently working in the evaluation of prospective toilet and provides funds to Foster Homes for the care of children they German authorities Are the Only people who can License a Foster and acs works with the local organizations in and one of the greatest areas that we can help in the prevention of child abuse or neglect is in the child care me Neus we Are hoping that by they win come under the acs an supposed to Lake Over All to child care Center presently being operated in the army has Brett in Europe for some b Duggins now it is recon that soldiers have depend Enli and that they Are Alt and people need someone who