MCO 1740.13D - Family Care Plans

Scope

MCO 1740.13D sets Marine Corps policy and procedures for Family Care Plans (FCPs). The order applies to active and reserve Service Members, Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Expeditionary Workforce (CEW) employees, and personnel in support of Marine Corps units. The FCP records caregiver instructions for dependent family members when the Service Member and the other primary caregiver are unavailable due to deployment, abandonment, incapacitation, Temporary Additional Duty (TAD), or other reasons. The order implements DoD Instruction 1342.19 w/CH-1 across the Marine Corps Total Force. Failure to produce an FCP is a violation of Article 92, Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Audience

• Deputy Commandant, Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DC M&RA). Owns the program. Sets policy, training, and quality assurance.
• Director, Marine and Family Programs. Develops and runs standardized FCP training for Coordinators, Validators, Marines, and families.
• Commanding officers and officers in charge. Inform Service Members, verify DEERS posture, confirm validated FCPs, grant Validator and Coordinator permissions to qualified personnel.
• Installation commanders. Publish protocols giving designated caregivers access to base facilities and services.
• FCP Validators. E-6, O-2, W-1, or above. Validate FCPs within 30 days of submission. No civilians authorized as Validators.
• FCP Coordinators. E-6, O-2, W-1, civilian equivalent, or above. Run unit FCP reports, track compliance, forecast renewals.
• Service Members with dependents. Build, update, and certify the FCP through Marine Online (MOL).
• CEW employees with dependents. Maintain an FCP while assigned to expeditionary duties. Rescind on completion.
• S-1 staff and adjutants. Track FCP currency through the MOL Coordinator Report. Build inspection evidence.

FCP requirement matrix

• FCP required. Dual Service Member couples with other dependent family members, Service Members with spouse and dependents, Service Members with spouse only, single Service Members with dependents, CEW employees with dependents, CEW employees with spouse and no dependents.
• FCP not required. Dual Service Member couples with no dependents, single Service Members with no dependents, CEW employees with no dependents.
• Encouraged but not required. Contractors serving in officially designated contingency operations with dependents.
• Reference Enclosure 1 for the full table.

Validation triggers

Validation is required at each of the following events.

1. Check-in to first permanent duty station.
2. Transfer to a new unit.
3. Loss or gain of a dependent.
4. One year after the last validated FCP.
5. Change in caregiver status.

Caregiver design rules

• Short-term caregiver. Willing and able to assume care within 24 hours of FCP activation, for up to 14 days.
• Long-term caregiver. Willing and able to assume care within 14 days of activation, for as long as required.
• Single caregiver covering both windows. Service Member enters identical information in the short-term and long-term caregiver fields.
• Service Members are not authorized as caregivers in any FCP.
• Dual military couples with dependents. Both Service Members file an FCP under each Service branch's policy.

Notification and update timelines

• Active component. Notify command within 30 days of any dependent status or circumstance change. Submit an updated FCP within 60 days of the change.
• Reserve component. Notify command within 60 days. Submit an updated FCP within 90 days.
• Annual certification. Every Service Member with an FCP certifies currency and accuracy through MOL each year.
• Validator review. Validates the submitted FCP within 30 days. Sets resubmission deadlines for returned FCPs.

Validator and Coordinator program rules

• Grade floor. E-6, O-2, or W-1 for Validators. E-6, O-2, W-1, or civilian equivalent for Coordinators.
• Training. MOL Validator or Coordinator Training within 45 days of permission grant. Required before managing any FCP data.
• Tools. Validator Report and Coordinator Report from MOL. Validators apply the Validator Reference Checklist in Enclosure 2.
• Self-validation barred. Service Members are not authorized to validate their own FCP.
• Civilians. Authorized as Coordinators with the equivalent grade. Not authorized as Validators.
• Dual designation. The commander has discretion to grant Validator and Coordinator permissions to the same qualified Service Member simultaneously.

Enclosure map

• Enclosure 1. Family Care Plan Dependent Categories. Table of FCP required and not required by Service Member status.
• Enclosure 2. Validator's Reference Checklist. Required items, recommended items, and the validation cadence.
• Enclosure 3. Service Member's Family Care Plan Checklist. Caregiver designation, financial, logistical, medical, dental, and legal arrangements, caregiver briefing topics.
• Enclosure 4. Key Terms and Acronyms.

Forms and systems

• NAVMC 11800 (Rev. 01-13). FCP Report template for FCPs validated prior to 2018-01-26. Reports Control Symbol Exempt under SECNAV M-5214.1 Part IV paragraph 7p.
• Marine Online (MOL). FCP Module is the system of record for active FCPs from 2018-01-26 forward.
• Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS). Stores the validated FCP record.
• Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). Dependent enrollment system tied to MCO 5512.11E.

Connection to higher policy

• DoD Instruction 1342.19 w/CH-1. Family Care Plans, 2017-11-30. Parent policy.
• Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 92. Punitive authority for failure to produce a required FCP.
• 10 U.S.C. Section 1044. Legal assistance authority for Service Members.
• 5 U.S.C. Section 552a. Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.
• SECNAVINST 5211.5E. DON Privacy Program. The current revision is SECNAVINST 5211.5F of 2019-05-20.
• SECNAV M-5210.1. DON Records Management Manual.
• SECNAV Notice 5210. Records management cadence for DON.
• SECNAV M-5214.1. DON Reports Management Program.

Connection to Marine Corps doctrine and lower policy

• MCO 5000.14D. Marine Corps Information Resources Management Program.
• MCO 5512.11E. Department of Defense Identification (ID) Cards. DEERS enrollment standard.
• MCO 5210.11F. Marine Corps Records Management Program.
• MCBul 5210 dtd 29 Aug 2025. CDRM appointment and CROSS posture supporting records of FCP execution.
• MCO 1754.9B. Unit, Personal and Family Readiness Program. Family support resources cited in Enclosure 3.

Supersession

Cancels MCO 1740.13C. Replaces NAVMC 11800 as the day-to-day FCP record store with MOL effective 2018-01-26. FCPs validated before 2018-01-26 stay valid until the next required renewal.

Status

Active. Signed 2018-06-14 by M. A. Rocco, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Distribution Statement A, public release. PCN 10202426000. Sponsor is HQMC M&RA, Marine and Family Programs Division (MFZ). Applicability is the Marine Corps Total Force. DC M&RA reviews the order annually. Verify against the current MOL FCP Module behavior for any updated workflow changes.