Proposal to Advocate for the Recognition of Stepfamily Relationships in American Legion Auxiliary Membership Eligibility
While reviewing American Legion Auxiliary membership eligibility requirements, Jennifer McGregor, a member of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 15, identified an issue involving the exclusion of stepfamily relationships from Auxiliary membership eligibility.
That discovery led to further research into current ALA eligibility requirements, federal requirements governing veterans' organization auxiliaries, and the ways stepchildren are recognized elsewhere within The American Legion Family and military community.
The result is the following proposal, which asks The American Legion Family to examine what legislative, regulatory, or organizational changes would be necessary to recognize qualifying stepfamily relationships for Auxiliary membership purposes.
Under current eligibility requirements, certain relatives of qualifying veterans may establish eligibility through biological or legally adopted family relationships, while stepfamily relationships alone do not establish eligibility.
For many military and veteran families, however, a stepchild is simply a child. A veteran may raise a stepchild from early childhood through adulthood without legally adopting that child. Likewise, a servicemember or veteran may have been raised by a stepparent who served as Mom or Dad for decades. Legal adoption is not always possible or appropriate, and the absence of an adoption decree does not necessarily reflect the strength or permanence of a family relationship.
The issue is especially worth examining because stepfamily relationships are already recognized in other areas of the military and American Legion Family. Sons of The American Legion membership recognizes stepsons, and stepchildren are recognized for certain American Legion programs and military dependent purposes.
This proposal does not ask an Auxiliary Unit, Department, or the American Legion Auxiliary to disregard current membership requirements or federal requirements governing the organization's tax-exempt status.
Instead, it asks a larger question:
If existing federal law, regulation, tax requirements, or organizational rules prevent the American Legion Auxiliary from recognizing qualifying stepfamily relationships, should The American Legion Family examine those restrictions and determine whether they can be changed?
The first step is determining precisely where the restriction originates and which authority has the ability to change it. If the obstacle is organizational, the appropriate organizational process should be examined. If it involves IRS regulation or interpretation, the possibility of regulatory change should be explored. If federal statute is the obstacle, the question becomes whether legislative action should be considered. Proposal_Stepfamily_Eligibility…
Military and veteran families take many forms. This proposal asks The American Legion Family to examine whether otherwise qualifying stepchildren, stepparents, and other step-relatives should remain excluded solely because their family relationship is not one of blood or legal adoption.
Read the Full Stepfamily Eligibility Proposal
The complete proposal below includes background research, current eligibility considerations, examples of stepfamily recognition within military and American Legion programs, the proposed resolution, and supporting references.