Beyond the Badge Family Academy

What is Family Academy?

Family Academy is a ready-to-implement training program that helps law enforcement agencies strengthen officer and family resilience — through practical, evidence-informed education built for the realities of the job.

It equips certified instructors to deliver structured learning experiences for law enforcement families (spouses/partners, parents, and support systems), so families understand the career, communicate better, prepare for critical incidents, and stay connected through the stressors that often come home.

Why it exists

Policing doesn’t stay at work. Stress, hypervigilance, trauma exposure, moral injury, shiftwork, and organizational pressure shape the home — and families are often expected to “just figure it out.” Family Academy bridges that gap by giving families tools, language, and support pathways that help them stay healthy and help agencies improve retention, wellness, and long-term readiness.

Backed by 9 years of Family Academy implementation, more than 1,500 hours of development, and expert input from culturally competent first responder counselors — giving you a ready-to-teach, open-and-go curriculum. 

Outcomes agencies can expect

Family Academy helps agencies:

• Impact recruiting, retention, and resilience

• Build a healthier, more supported workforce

• Reduce isolation and stigma at home

• Increase retention by strengthening the family side of wellness

• Create consistent, scalable family support programming

• Provide proactive education instead of only reacting after crisis

What makes it different

Family Academy isn’t a motivational talk or a one-time workshop. It’s a teach-ready curriculum with:

• Clear lesson plans + instructor guides

• Participant handouts and take-home tools

• Implementation models that work for small agencies and large agencies

• A consistent framework that keeps content aligned, professional, and repeatable

• A certification pathway so agencies can deliver it internally with confidence