Mental Health Clearance and Post Approval

Child and Family Program Role

CFP acts as a consultant in the Medical Clearances process. When indicated, Medical Clearances will place a mental health 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 214 

Medical Clearances – Guidance on Clearance process, Resources (Customer Tools) 

 Clearance Process

1. Employee/parent submits a pre-employment DS–1843 form, pre-employment DS–1622 form, or Medical Clearance update form DS–3057 with mental health records and/or Treatment Provider Information (TPI) form in .pdf format to Medical Records MEDMR@state.gov. The Medical Records system cannot support .jpg, .zip, or other formatted files.  
2. The Medical Clearance Consultant reviews the documentation and submits a mental health consult request for a review of clearance and/or post approvals to CFP through the Mental Health Nurse Consultant team. The Clearance Nurse Consultant will also send a TPI form to the employee. 
3. Please contact the Mental Health Nurse Consultant team MEDMHS@state.gov if you are having difficulty obtaining documentation or have questions regarding the information requested.  
4. Once the required documentation is obtained, the Mental Health Nurse Consultants will notify CFP to request a specialist complete the mental health consult.
5. The CFP specialist will review the mental health consult request and supporting documentation. 
6.  If an educational consult was not previously requested by Medical Clearances and is required, the employee/parent will be notified to provide additional information, and a CFP/educational consult will be completed.
7. 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) 
8. Once the clearance/post approval review is completed, CFP will submit recommendations to Medical Clearances. 
9. 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.
10. 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 mental health and/or educational/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.  

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 Programs: MEDCFP@state.gov – general queries regarding SNEA applications and status of educational clearance and/or post approval recommendations 

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

Travel and Immunization Clinic: 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.