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Support for Families with Children

  • Medals and Certificates of Recognition – To recognize the sacrifice that children make while their parent is serving a high-risk unaccompanied tour, the Department of State’s Global Community Liaison Office distributes Medals and Certificates of Recognition to children age 0-21. All Foreign Affairs Agency (Department of State, Commerce, Agriculture, USAID, and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors) employees serving Permanent Change of Station or long-term TDY assignments at the posts designated “unaccompanied” or “limited accompanied” are invited to participate. Eligible Foreign Service, Civil Service, and LE Staff employees are encouraged to submit nominations. To nominate your child contact GCLOAskUT@state.gov. 
  • Children’s Workbooks – GCLO has developed individualized, age-appropriate workbooks available for children who have a parent preparing for or serving on an Unaccompanied Tour. State Department Foreign Service (FS) and Civil Service (CS) employees on limited non-career appointments (LNAs) to the Foreign Service and other federal employees who will be under Chief of Mission authority, to include Department of Defense, assigned or detailed for 12 months or longer to one of the unaccompanied or partially unaccompanied posts who have children under the age of 18 may receive handbooks for their children.  To order a pre-printed workbook, email GCLOAskUT@state.gov.
  • GCLO’s Education and Youth Team – When one parent is apart from the family for an extended period of time, children may need special attention. The Global Community Liaison Office Education and Youth team has resources and information covering a wide range of transition and education topics pertaining to Foreign Service youth. For more information and questions, the Education and Youth Team can be reached at GCLOAskEducation@state.gov.
Additional Children’s Resources
  • Talk, Listen, Connect – An outreach initiative to help kids through deployments, combat-related injuries, and the death of a loved one.
  • Little Children, Big Challenges – Aims to help children build self-confidence, problem-solving skills, and emotional tools they need to cope with adversity.
  • The Foreign Service Youth Foundation – A nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to the support of children of employees of the US foreign affairs agencies.
  • Zero to Three – Helpful resources and practical tools that strengthen families and improve the lives of infants and toddlers.

Disclaimer

Listings of private entities on this page are provided as a convenience and should not be construed as an endorsement by the U.S. Department State or the U.S. government of the entity, its views or the products or services it provides. The order in which names appear has no significance, and the links may be removed at any time at the discretion of the Department.

U.S. Department of State

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