The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

78 SEPTEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA Town Halls Continued from p. 67 the challenges of the upcom- ing transfer season, the health and safety of the workforce, and questions surrounding the status of Authorized or Ordered Departure. We know that you are worried about possible family separation, health issues when transiting, home leave and R&R, international school- ing and allowances. We have brought your questions to the awareness of agency management in our regular meetings with them. We have pushed for them to adopt policies with maximum flexibility. Thank you for sending your questions—they help. Raising these issues, backed by real stories and actual comments from our members, was how we convinced management to add administrative leave for those who had to care for fam- ily members while on AD. It’s also how we got EER deadline extensions, and how we persuaded management that virtual onboarding of new Foreign Service entrants was not only possible, but the responsible thing to do. Right now, we are receiv- ing many questions from you about how the Diplomacy Strong–phased approach will work on a practical basis in the summer transfer season. Another issue many of you are worried about is interna- tional schooling and, specifi- cally, the department’s pay- ment of tuition deposits when Foreign Service members and dependents cannot yet be in- country for health and safety reasons.We have engaged with the department, but we are encountering resistance. We will continue to push. Non-Pandemic Concerns On FS positions, AFSA reminds the management of all our constituent agencies at every opportunity that Foreign Service positions should be filled by Foreign Service members. The erosion of FS positions is a constant battle in all our agencies. On assignment restric- tions, our State Labor Man- agement office has written to the State Department seeking data surrounding the apparent increase in assignment restrictions affecting employees over the past three years. We have shared the con- cerns of our colleagues in the Asian American Foreign Affairs Association about the disproportionate impact on their members and oth- ers. AFSA believes there is room for improvement in terms of transparency and fairness in arriving at decisions that restrict an employee from certain assignments. AFSA has also raised your concerns with Diplo- matic Security management about security clearance wait times and the backlog in adjudicating discipline cases. We have made progress on the disciplinary cases, and we will keep rais- ing concerns over security clearance times. In addition to these operational concerns, we are also attempting to keep intact as much of our other work as we can. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to bring you programs of inter- est via virtual platforms and to offer you ways to connect with us virtually. Please know that AFSA is here for you. We are doing our best to continue the full span of our operations— minus our in-person happy hours, but we’re considering some virtual alternatives to them! Please let us know how we are doing and what we could do better. n FS I RELEASES NEW GU I DED JOURNAL FOR FS CH I LDREN The Transition Center at the Foreign Service Institute has released a guided journal for elementary school-aged children of foreign affairs families moving overseas. The Amazing Adventures of (Me): A Guided Journal to My International Move is a fun new tool for helping your kids start their transition. The activities-filled pages of this free publication facilitate discussion as children process and prepare for an upcoming international move. An accompanying parent companion guide provides context to help formulate discussion and understanding of the child’s emotional journey. Through the guide, children can explore the various stages of an international move and discover how they are feeling about the upcoming transition. Download this new Transition Center resource at https://fsitraining.state.gov/Home/ Index/7605. n NEWS BRIEF