Americans have rarely been as removed from military service as today. The number of active-duty military personnel is near modern-day lows, and the number of Americans directly tied to military servicepeople also are at near-historic lows.

For military personnel, this means more time away from home on deployment than ever. And for the families that support them, the stress and loneliness have rarely been as challenging. For children, being part of a military family is particularly challenging.

Families left to hold down the home front during deployments, however, are not alone. There are a growing number of resources that are available. Knowing where to look, however, can be a challenge.

What follows are seven sites that families can look to for assistance.

Purple Star Schools: The Virginia Department of Education oversees the Purple Star program, which recognizes schools and districts that have created services aimed specifically at serving the children of military families. This school year, both Stafford Public Schools and Fredericksburg City Schools received Purple Star status for the first time. Families in those districts can talk to school administrators about the services and support that schools can provide you. (See related story)

Veteran Military Family Congregation: Recognizing that military personnel will often turn to a local faith-based community first when in need of help, VMFC was formed to help connect families and faith communities. Congregations register to join VMFC and, once accepted, are equipped to help their faith communities deal with the unique challenges military families face. (www.vmfc-usa.org)

Sesame Street for Military Families library: Launched in 2006, Sesame Street developed a bevy of kid-friendly and family-friendly resources to assist military families on a wide range of subjects. Especially for families with children under 5, this site is a treasure-trove.  (sesamestreetformilitaryfamilies.org)

MilitaryOneSource: Built and maintained by the Defense Department, MilitaryOneSource collects, screens, and points families to information and resources they will need. In particular are the following two pages regarding deployment: Deployment Resources for Families, https://www.militaryonesource.mil/deployment/pre-deployment/deployment-resources-for-families/, and Supporting Your Military Children through the Deployment Cycle, https://www.militaryonesource.mil/parenting/family-life/supporting-your-military-children-through-th....

Childcare Aware of America: Finding childcare is a national problem, with shortages reaching critical levels, especially here in the Fredericksburg area. Childcare Aware of America is available for all families, but it has programs dedicated specifically to supporting military families. The group also provides fee assistance and respite child care programs (www.childcareaware.org/fee-assistancerespite/)

Special Operators and their Families: Military servicepeople serving in Special Forces (the Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Marine Raiders, AFSOC, and SWCC) carry out some of our nation’s most-dangerous operations. For their families, deployments carry special worries and concerns. SOF is committed to assisting families through these trying times. (www.sofsupport.org)

National Military Family Association: The NMFA is designed to assist military families in all stages of military life, but it also offers special resources and services as families dealing with the deployment cycle. Focusing on pre-deployment preparation, as well as post-deployment realities, NMFA’s only concern is making the difficult as manageable as is possible. (www.militaryfamily.org/info-resources/deployment/)

Finally, families should be attuned to scams. As difficult as it can be to believe, families of military servicepeople are easy targets because they are facing stressful situations.

MilitaryOneSource offers both a fraud prevention kit and a Preventing Scams Factsheet. Families of military personnel should remain vigilant; these resources from MilitaryOneSource is a great start. (https://benefits.va.gov/benefits/docs/fraud-protection-kit.pdf)

Martin Davis is editor-in-chief of FXBG Advance (www.fxbgadvance.com) and the father of a USMC special forces Marine.