The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2016 23 tional Cooperative Administra- tive Support Services (known as ICASS) in Washington. The GEI program evolved from a white paper FLO wrote 14 years ago and was granted initial seed funding by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation. Given the green light by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, it has been a FLO-administered program for the past 10 years. While many EFMs may wish otherwise, GEI is not a job place- ment service. Instead, regional global employment advisers (GEAs; currently there are 16 covering more than 200 posts) offer counseling and coaching, either in person or virtually, to help family members develop short-, mid- and long-term employ- ment strategies. Is the program a success? It depends on who you ask. Some EFMs report finding the coaching useful and the resumé-writing advice, in particular, invaluable. Others dismiss the service as something they could find elsewhere if they wanted it. “I think GEI advisers’ time would be better spent doing on-the-ground networking for EFMs who aren't yet at post,” says one EFM. “Get- ting a job takes a lot of face time that EFMs don't have during two- or three-year tours.” Source: State Department Family Liaison Office, Family Member Report, November 2015.