HomeBureau of Medical Services...Educational Clearances and Post Approvals

# 									Educational Clearances and Post Approvals							

Child and Family Program

## Child and Family Program (CFP) Role

CFP acts as a consultant in the Medical Clearances process. When indicated, Medical Clearances will place an educational consult request for a clearance and/or post approval review to the CFP team. The CFP team will provide a recommendation to Medical Clearances, which makes the final clearance and/or post approval decisions.

## Clearance References

16 FAM Procedures for Medical Examination and Clearance  – 16 FAM 217d, 16 FAM 214Medical Clearances – Guidance on Clearance process, Resources (Customer Tools)

## Clearance Process

        - Employee/parent submits a pre-employment  **DS-1843**  form, pre-employment  **DS-1622**  form, or Medical Clearance Update form  **DS-3057**  with educational records not previously submitted in .pdf format to Medical Records  MEDMR@state.gov . The Medical Records system cannot support .jpg, .zip, or other formatted files.
        - The Medical Clearance Consultant reviews the documentation and submits an educational consult request for either a clearance recommendation and/or post approval to CFP.
        - Educational documentation             - Please contact  MEDCFP@state.gov  if:             - You are having difficulty obtaining documentation or have questions regarding information requested
            - To confirm the educational documentation that is available in your child’s medical file
            - Your child will graduate high school prior to arrival at post 
          - If your child no longer requires services, accommodations, or modifications of the curriculum , please forward a copy of the discharge note or final progress report from the therapist and/or school to Medical Records  MEDMR@state.gov .
          - Educational clearance recommendation: age specific documentation requirements. Please forward the following documentation as applicable to Medical Records MEDMR@state.gov, as applicable. 
        -            - 0-5 years (early intervention services-preschool aged)              - Current Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), Individual Education Plan (IEP), Early Intervention plan or equivalent
            - Current educational/developmental treatment plan(s), progress note(s) from health care (i.e., psychologist) and/or ancillary service providers (i.e., speech therapist)
            - Current educational/developmental assessments/evaluations by health care and/or ancillary service providers 
        -            - 5+ years (K-12)              - Current Individualized Education Plan (IEP), 504 plan, or equivalent
            - Current neuropsychological/psychoeducational assessment and/or IEP/504 eligibility document
            - Current educationally/developmental evaluation(s)/assessment(s) by health care (i.e., psychologist) and/or ancillary service provider(s) (i.e., speech therapist)
            - Current educational/developmental progress note(s), and treatment plan(s) from health care and/or service provider(s) 
        - The CFP team will advise the employee/parents if additional information is needed to complete the requested educational clearance recommendation.
        - Post Approval Clearance Recommendation: If educational needs are identified and an onward post(s) is(are) identified, your child will need to complete the Medical Clearance post approval process. To complete this process, CFP is required to provide a recommendation to Medical Clearances based on the proposed educational plan and resources/services available at post. The CFP team will provide further guidance of the information needed for the educational post approval recommendation, and as applicable, the Special Needs Education Allowance (SNEA) for your onward assignment.

Considerations: Educational Plan
        - 0-5 years (early intervention – preschool aged)           - Early intervention services. Are services available at post in the local community and/or are telehealth/virtual services a viable option for the child?
          - If applicable, will the child be able to access a preschool program? 
        - School aged:           - Homeschooling             - Proposed curriculum
            - Legal at the proposed post(s)
            - How the child will access educationally required services and supports (local community or virtually)
            -  Resources:               - GCLO: Homeschooling Resources and Curricula
              - Home School Legal Defense: HSLDA – Making homeschooling possible 
        - Attending a school at post.           - Provisional school acceptance. This original email or letter of provisional acceptance is to include the following information:              - The student’s full name
            - Acknowledgement that the school has reviewed the child’s report cards, evaluations, assessments, IEPs, and other relevant documentation
            - A statement that the school can meet the child’s academic needs
            - Verification that the school can meet specific needs such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, ABA therapy, etc. or that those services can be provided within the community
            - For children with behavioral needs, verification that the school can meet these needs, specifically that the school has a counselor, psychologist and /or access to a behavior specialist who can write a behavior program, if needed 
            - Indication that there is space/availability at the school for the dates that your child might be at post
            - The title/credential(s) of the person writing the letter with contact information 
          - Educationally required services. If the school cannot provide the services the child requires to access an education, are services available in the local community or are virtual services a viable option? 
        - Boarding school.           - Does the post have the supports and services the child requires? If not, CFP will review for SNEA away from post eligibility.
          - Educational consultant. This is a SNEA service to be discussed with the CFP specialist; specifically, for the purposes of finding an away from post school when needed services and supports are not available at school and the child meets SNEA eligibility criteria.
          - Medical Clearance. The child will receive a temporary (Class 6) recommendation for educational needs. 
        - The CFP specialist will review the consult request and supporting documentation. If a mental health consult was not previously requested by Medical Clearances and is required, the employee/parent will be notified to provide additional information, and a CFP/mental health consult will be completed.
        - The CFP specialist will then contact the parent/guardian to summarize findings and inform next steps (i.e., clearance/post approval recommendation, additional information needed)
        - Once the clearance/post approval review is completed, CFP will submit recommendations to Medical Clearances.
        - Medical Clearances will notify the employee of the final clearance decision by email and will provide the employee guidance on the Medical Review Panel Appeals process.
        - If applicable, the CDO/Agency HR will notify the employee of the finalized post approval.

## Post Approval and Bidding Process

During the review process, CFP clinicians must determine that required educational and/or mental health/allied health services and supports are available at **each post** under consideration. As part of that process, clinicians will attempt to clarify whether the necessary services can be accessed at post. CFP strongly recommends families begin researching posts that may have required resources and supports early in the application process. For families with school aged children, CFP advises that families contact the Office of Overseas School, respective Health Units, Global Community Liaison Office, and schools at prospective posts to determine if services and supports are available. The CFP team may collaborate with these other offices to help identify if appropriate services will be available.

CFP is not authorized to add, change, or remove posts under consideration. Employees should stay in close communication with their HR/CDO with any updates or changes to proposed posts. The HR/CDO will communicate directly with Medical Clearances rather than Child and Family Program for post approvals.

## Clearance Process and the Special Needs Education Allowance (SNEA)

When a child has a medical diagnosis that results in an educational disability and possesses an IFSP, IEP, ILP or equivalent, then our CFP team will provide guidance on how to access SNEA at post during the clearance process.

A child must have a valid and current medical clearance for CFP to review a SNEA application request. Children with Class 2 post approved, Class 2 not post approved, Class 5, Class 6 clearances due to educational or mental health needs may or may not qualify for SNEA.

If a child is eligible for SNEA funding due to an educational disability, or if a new medical diagnosis is identified that is related to an educational or mental health need, the child’s medical file will be updated. CFP is required to notify Medical Clearances with an educational and/or mental health recommendation. This may result in a change in the child’s medical clearance status.

For all questions related to SNEA eligibility, please refer to CFP’s SNEA page and contact Child and Family Program **MEDCFP@state.gov**.

## Bureau of Medical Services Contacts

**Medical Records:****MEDMR@state.gov**– email for all documentation to be included in the medical file; submit all documentation in .pdf format to prevent processing delays

**Medical Clearances****: MEDClearances@state.gov**– primary point of contact for Medical Clearance status and general queries regarding clearance process

**Child and Family Program****: MEDCFP@state.gov** – general queries regarding status of educational clearance and/or post approval recommendations, Special Needs Education Allowance (SNEA)

**Mental Health Services****:****MEDMHS@state.gov**– general queries regarding status of mental health clearance and/or post approval recommendations

**Travel and Immunization Clini****c: MEDTravelClinic@state.gov** – general queries regarding immunization and travel medications for onward assignment. A valid medical clearance and travel orders are needed prior to scheduling an appointment.

**Domestic Programs:****MEDDP@state.gov**– general queries regarding Certificates of Incapacity (COI) for medical/dental/vision insurance coverage for disabled children meeting eligibility criteria.

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