The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2016 25 Development and Assignments. Unlike EPAP, the positions in this program are actual mid-level FSO positions that have gone unfilled in the bid cycle and are then opened up to eligible EFMs, as well as to Civil Service employees. EFMs have preference in these jobs over Civil Service members, but they don’t have preference over FSOs—so could lose their assignment at any time if an FSO bids on it. There are also not very many of these positions open in any given year—about 35 a year, on average, for the past five years. Currently, only about 5 percent of those slots are filled by EFMs. Consular Adjudicator Program . The Consular Affairs– Appointment Eligible Family Member Adjudicator Program is coordinated by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and allows EFMs to fill entry-level consular positions at their spouse’s post of assignment. EFMs must go through a selection process to be qualified. Once certified, they remain eligible for positions for as long as they are EFMs. Since the program launched in June 2014, 89 EFMs have been fully certified. There is no fixed num- ber of positions available each year, however; the needs of the Foreign Service dictate the number and location of openings. EFM consular adjudicators are eligible to receive training as employees—meaning they will be paid during their training period and are not expected to take training on their own time. However, they are not eligible to receive per diem, so they either pay housing costs out of pocket or arrange training when their spouses are already in Washington, D.C. Not Enough to Go Around “The QDDR commits us to expanding these [centrally man- aged EFM employment] programs even further, and making The number of single- income couples among FS members is more than 10 percent higher than among their domestic counterparts.