The Quantico Civilian Employee Assistance Program has expanded its definition of “assistance.”

In early August, the Federal Occupational Health Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Services took over the program from the Pentagon, and as of Aug. 15, Quantico’s appropriated-fund civilian Marines have access to free counseling, as well as researchers who can identify resources to resolve almost any life issue.

Under the new program, civilians get free, anonymous telephone counseling on any given topic, said Susan Galloway, head of Employee/Management Advisory Services. This includes family, marriage, legal, financial, health and addiction counseling and more, by trained counselors, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Employees get up to five free sessions on each issue they need help with.

“It’s for any kind of problem you can imagine in your life,” Galloway said. “As you know, all that stuff bleeds over, and it affects your work life.”

While financial counseling can likely be completed in five sessions, she said, marriage or addiction counseling probably cannot, in which case the counselors can refer employees to appropriate local providers.

Under the old contract, this referral service comprised the entire employee assistance program.

Civilians also now have access to the FOH Employee Assistance Program’s WorkLife 4 You, which Jessica Kirchoff, an operations manager with FOH EAP, described as “a free, 24-7 research and referral program” aimed at solving problems that cause employees not to come in to work or that eat up their time at work.

Any civilians who have spent time at work researching a local dentist who accepts their insurance or who have come to work late because they had to find a plumber for a midnight emergency, or who have stayed home from work because they couldn’t find someone to take care of an ailing parent now have someone else to investigate those services.

Specialists with the program can research just about anything, such as daycare options, dog walkers, caterers, building contractors, scholarship options for employees’ children or higher education options for the employees themselves, Kirchoff said. They can research yoga classes in a certain area at a certain time within a certain price range. They can find services for a parent in another state.

“It’s just anything that might have taken up time during your day,” she said. “If it exists, we will find it.”

There is very little they can’t research: “We can’t help you sue your employer, and we can’t help you find another job,” Kirchoff said. “That’s pretty much it.”

The program also offers free kits of literature and supplies, including one for expecting parents, a child-safety kit, another for those with college-bound children and one regarding elder care, as well as a general health and wellness kit available to anyone.

Various tools and resources, including streaming videos, budget calculators, service locators and moderated group discussions are also available on the program’s website, Kirchoff said.

Through the program, FOH will also host four live seminars, either face-to-face or online, on various topics throughout each fiscal year.

While all these services are free, they pay off for both employer and employee, she said, by leading to “more engaged employees, absenteeism is down, they’re less stressed, and that makes for happier, more productive people.”

The Quantico Employee Assistance Program is available to all appropriated-fund civilians served by the Quantico Human Resources and Organizational Management Branch, which includes almost all tenant commands, Galloway said. Exceptions include the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Marine Corps Intelligence Agency.

Counseling services also include management consultation for supervisors, regarding employee performance concerns and intervention.

All of these services are available through a single hotline, where callers are transferred to the specialists who can help them best, Kirchoff said. 

“A lot of people love it,” she said. “We find out a lot of people don’t even know they have it.”

Two town hall-style meetings about the expanded program will be held at Little Hall on Sept. 11, and two more are scheduled for Sept. 16. On each of those days, there will be an 11 a.m. meeting for employees and a 1 p.m. meeting for supervisors.  

“We worked for a year getting this program in place,” Galloway said. “We’re very proud of it.”

To learn more about the program, contact the Federal Occupational Health EAP at 1-800-222-0364. Visit the program online at www.foh.dhhs.gov/services/eap/eap.asp, orwww.foh4you.com, or visit WorkLife 4 You at www.worklife4you.com. The registration code is “USMC.”
— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com