The Foreign Service Journal, December 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2016 13 You Are Our Eyes & Ears! Dear Readers: In order to produce a high-quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have provided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 Email: miltenberger@afsa.org process in which we all felt a responsi- bility both to my child and to the U.S. government. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case, and the change dates from the creation of the Child and Family Program. The Journal article notes that several factors contributed to establishment of the new program. Notably, providing improved support to special needs children and their families was not listed as a reason for the change. This is consistent with what we now experience. The need for a more “uniform code of practice” has led to a “lowest com- mon denominator” approach, where services approved in the past are no longer being approved in spite of extensive medical documentation and their inclusion in the Individual Educa- tion Plan—the two requirements for approval. The article notes that “a number of endeavors” are underway, aimed at “improving oversight, consistency and accountability of the educational allowance.” Regrettably, once again, improving the education of our chil- dren—fulfilling the original purpose of the education allowance—is not mentioned. The article’s statement that the education allowances are designed to “assist in defraying those costs neces- sary to obtain educational services that are ordinarily provided free of charge by public schools in the United States” is a subtle, but significant, alteration of the original wording, which states that the education allowances are meant to assist employees in meeting those costs. It is clearly costs, and not the educa- tional needs of our children, that are driving this process. As the article notes, the Depart- ment of State Standardized Regulations requires an IEP that “delin- eates which educational ser- vices are required.” However, having a service listed in a child’s IEP no longer means that CFP will actually autho- rize that service. Without consulting the school or medical provider who developed the IEP, the CFP is now making unilat- eral decisions on which services listed in the IEP they deem “necessary” and, thus, covered. CFP professionals, sitting in Washington, are overriding recommendations made by the educa- tional experts who work with the special needs child on a daily basis. Someday we will realize how short- sighted and harmful these policies have been. The Individuals with Disabili- ties Education Act is the U.S. law that provides funding for “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of the child with a disability.” This is the standard the Special Needs Education Allowance was intended to meet. Under CFP, instead of a case man- ager who actually knew my child as an individual and helped the overseas school and our family meet his educa- tional needs, I have had several staff members repeat exhaustive reviews of my child’s eligibility criteria. Each time it has been an onerous and labori- ous process to turn around summary judgments intended to deny necessary services he has received for years that are clearly justified in his IEP. These are not just growing pains. These are direct consequences of a policy where cost control and standard- ization are no longer important factors alongside individual needs—they have become the overwhelming factors in SNEA decision-making. CFP needs to swing the pendulum more toward the center and once again make this a truly consultative process with parents and overseas educational providers, treating each child as an indi- vidual who has a purpose and future in this life. For this, they need an educa- tion of their own. n Name withheld upon request.