K-12 Education: DOD Has Taken Steps to Support Students Affected by Problematic Sexual Behaviors, but Challenges Remain

Fast Facts

The Department of Defense school system collects detailed information about reported unwanted sexual behaviors—from inappropriate touching to sexual assault—among its more than 66,000 students.

However, some students involved in such incidents may not be getting the support they need, such as mental health counseling. The military's Family Advocacy Program is charged with responding to these incidents, but only military dependents are eligible for most of its support services. We found that 1 in 5 students are ineligible because their parents are DOD civilians.

Our recommendations address this issue, and more.

Two children sitting in front of a mental health professional.

Highlights

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA), which educates over 66,000 military-connected pre-K through grade 12 students worldwide, collects detailed information about reported incidents of unwanted sexual behavior among students. These behaviors include those that are normative (but inappropriate), like unwanted touching in younger grades. It also includes behaviors that are severe and problematic at any age, like sexual assault. Since 2019, unwanted sexual behavior reports at DODEA schools have increased substantially due to enhanced reporting requirements. However, DODEA has not sought feedback on its updated reporting requirements from school leaders, who raised concerns about significant administrative burden with formally reporting normative behaviors, and stigma for students involved in them.

DODEA School Incident Reports and Key Efforts to Enhance Reporting

Note: DODEA school closures during the pandemic may also have contributed to fewer reports of unwanted sexual behaviors during school years 2019–2020 and 2020–2021.

DODEA students who are harmed by or exhibit problematic sexual behaviors face challenges accessing appropriate support services. DOD policy directs the Military Community Advocacy Directorate's Family Advocacy Program (FAP) to implement a consistent response strategy. However, GAO identified various weaknesses hindering these efforts. Specifically, the Military Community Advocacy Directorate:

has not monitored how consistently FAP includes DODEA in multidisciplinary teams, which are installation-wide response efforts, despite known issues;
has not monitored its efforts to close the gap in the number of FAP clinicians with expertise needed to treat children with problematic behaviors;
has not assessed the effectiveness of its efforts to address low participation in FAP clinical support services among eligible military families; and
chose to exclude the nearly one in five DODEA students who are children of civilian defense workers from accessing most FAP services and has not assessed whether this policy meets the needs of military communities.

Without addressing these weaknesses, DOD risks ongoing challenges in ensuring that students who are harmed by or exhibit problematic sexual behavior receive the support needed to assure the safety of the DODEA community.

Why GAO Did This Study

DODEA is required to protect students from discrimination based on sex, which can include sexual harassment.

Senate Report 117-130 and House Report 117-397 include a provision for GAO to examine DODEA's response to unwanted sexual behaviors. This report examines (1) the information DODEA collects to identify unwanted sexual behavior and (2) the availability of support services to students that are harmed by or exhibit such behavior.

GAO analyzed the most recent available DODEA data on reported incidents of unwanted sexual behavior among students in school years 2019–2020 through 2022–2023. GAO also conducted site visits to 11 DODEA schools and the FAP agencies serving five military communities in the U.S. and Europe, selected for geographic, grade level, and service branch variation. GAO also reviewed relevant federal laws and agency policies and interviewed agency officials from DODEA, Child and Youth Advocacy, and FAP.

Recommendations

GAO is making five recommendations to DOD, including to (1) assess reporting processes for normative behaviors, (2) monitor DODEA inclusion in response efforts, (3) monitor efforts to increase FAP clinical expertise, (4) assess efforts to improve participation in FAP support services, and (5) assess its policy to exclude civilian-dependent students from receiving most FAP services. DOD generally agreed with GAO's recommendations.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Defense	The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should direct the DODEA Director to assess the benefits and drawbacks of its current reporting process for incidents of normative sexual behavior among students. As a part of its efforts, DODEA should obtain school administrators' feedback on the amount of time spent investigating and reporting normative incidents, and whether there are opportunities to reduce reporting burden or stigma for these incidents. (Recommendation 1)	Closed – Implemented DOD agreed with and implemented this recommendation. DoDEA's Research Assessment & Evaluation Division administered a principal survey to seek feedback on improving methodologies for monitoring all inappropriate student sexual behaviors in support of maintaining a sexual harassment-free learning environment. In February 2025, DODEA stated that it would no longer require school administrators to report "normative" behaviors in its Serious Incident Reporting system. According to DODEA, this change reflects their commitment to reducing burden on school administrators while refining their processes to ensure that they focus on incidents that truly warrant intervention. DODEA stated that it would modify its reporting system and offer training to school administrators in Summer 2025.
Department of Defense	The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should direct the Military Community Advocacy Directorate to monitor the consistency with which DODEA is included on the multidisciplinary team, and take further actions, as needed, to improve participation. (Recommendation 2)	Closed – Implemented DOD agreed with and implemented this recommendation. As of February 2025, the Department: 1) deployed enhancement to the Problematic Sexual Behavior-Information System (PSB-IS) to capture DoDEA participation in the PSB-CY Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) when DoDEA is the referral source; 2) created and deployed a PSB-IS generated report to capture status of DoDEA participation in the MDT by Service-affiliation and installation; 3) established DoDEA participation as a priority action item for the monthly Service PSB working group; and 4) included the status of DoDEA participation in the MDT as a standard agenda item for the Military Community Advocacy Quarterly Meeting beginning in January 2025 for monitoring and trouble shooting barriers to participation.
Department of Defense	The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should direct the Military Community Advocacy Directorate to monitor the results of its efforts to assure that FAP clinicians have the training needed to treat students exhibiting problematic sexual behavior and take additional actions, as needed, to close gaps in clinical expertise. This assessment could leverage data from the Military Community Advocacy Directorate's new case management system. (Recommendation 3)	Open DOD agreed with this recommendation. In January 2025, the Department noted that Child Youth Advocacy completed a pilot Learning Collaborative with the National Center on the Sexual Behavior in Youth (NCSBY) through an interagency agreement with the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention that ended in 2023. Continuing this training effort will require a new contract with one base year and four option years to certify at least one clinical provider at each installation with a large child and youth presence over the next five years. The Learning Collaborative also includes certification in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Training for children and youth impacted by problematic sexual behavior (PSB) and support for the operation of the installation multi-disciplinary teams who are responsible for safety and supervision planning. In February 2025, DODEA stated that it planned to develop a plan to identify gaps in clinical expertise by April 30, 2025, and launch a new cohort for clinical training in the PSB Cognitive Behavioral Therapy model by January 1, 2026. We will continue to monitor the progress of these and any other efforts to address this recommendation.
Department of Defense	The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should direct the Military Community Advocacy Directorate to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of its existing and planned strategies to systematically address low participation in FAP support services. (Recommendation 4)	Closed – Implemented DOD agreed with and implemented this recommendation. In January 2025, the Department had said it planned to establish a quarterly review of findings at established Military Community Advocacy meetings and use the data to identify parental engagement trends and build strategies to operationalize emerging opportunities to strengthen parent engagement. As of February 2025, DOD held its first quarterly reviews of findings at established Military Community Advocacy meetings and completed updates to its Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB) information reporting system to collect data on Family Advocacy Program services offered, and whether those services were accepted or declined (and the reason for declination, if applicable). DOD also established parent engagement as a priority action item for the Service PSB-CY Working Group (Problematic Sexual Behavior in Children and Youth).
Department of Defense	The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness should direct the Military Community Advocacy Directorate to assess whether the current response policy to incidents of problematic sexual behaviors involving civilian-dependent students is sufficient to ensure the safety of all DODEA students and develop a plan to bridge any gaps. This assessment could include a review of current eligibility policies and identify opportunities to offer clinical support services to all DODEA students. (Recommendation 5)	Open DOD agreed with this recommendation. As of January 2025, the Department plans to review relevant laws, DOD Instructions, and Military Service Policies related to eligibility standards for participating in the full range of Family Advocacy Program services. In February 2025, DOD stated that it plans to produce an executive summary of its review and recommendations for closing any identified gaps in supporting all DODEA students in summer 2025. We will monitor the progress of these efforts.