The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

in D.C. with its high housing prices and other costs. According to “Frequently Asked Questions” about ISMA on the State Department Web site (www.state. gov), SMA is calculated as follows: “The rates for Involuntary SMA are based on data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the aver- age cost of maintaining a household in the continental United States. The costs include average rent, utilities, miscellaneous furnishings and supplies. Because indi- vidual circumstances vary and most people do not live in the ‘average’ area in CONUS [the continental United States], the rates may not fully cover each fam- ily’s costs.” It is clearly inconsistent for the many UT families staying behind in D.C. to have their ISMA allowance based on a cost-of-living calculation that includes small-town and rural America. Adjusting SMA upward for UT families living in Washington is yet another way to bring it into line with the real costs of maintaining two households. An Institutional Response Is Needed Unaccompanied spouses are unanimous in their appreciation for the efforts made by many individuals in the department to support their families. However, one cannot ignore the lack of institutional recognition of the challenges posed by this “new” Foreign Service: • Infrastructure to support unaccompanied tours, and especially unaccompanied tour families, is minimal and underfunded. • The Separate Maintenance Allowance falls well short of covering the costs of maintaining two households. • The State Department should not rely on outside organizations to provide support that is integral to a Foreign Service in which families must expect to be separated at least once in the course of a career. Decisive action to address these issues would be a great boost to morale. It would also encourage Foreign Service members to volunteer for the many unaccom- panied positions that the department is already having trouble filling. n F O C U S J U N E 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 35