Behavioral Health and Faulty knowledge questions (SF 86 Questions)

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Why does the SF86 not advise Service Members to go to their Medical Records Facility and request a full copy of all their medical records (to include any and all information possible including behavioral health appointments made to verify any and all potential diagnoses?

Does everyone (except me?) know to do this when filling out their SF86 form?

If this is a ‘common re-occurrence’ wouldn’t providing clarification of this clear up and speed up a multitude whether or not someone ‘read’ or ‘understood’ what was being required when filling out the information the first time?

Clue me in on this occurence and why it seems to be ‘over-looked’ so often so someone is constantly pegged as 1. Personal Conduct 2. Behavioral Health red-flags if not aware directly themselves (depending on how much communication takes place between their ‘provider’ and the ‘patient’ directly on any/all diagnoses based directly upon the DSM V TR page guidelines?

Concur/Nonconcur?

Or would it throw such an upheavel and wrench into the security inspection process to be fixed and changed something like this type of recommendation is beyond consideration to be implimented and changed?

(Asking, due to pending a security clearance out of never being fully informed of behavioral health diagnoses, being flagged for Personal Conduct and Psychological… Requiring to wait for an SOR, and disputing the SOR due to never properly being informed of each diagnosis claimed diagnosed as accurate; had a new behavioral health test explaining all but one of all the previous diagnosis)

Current diagnosis has all the previous diagnoses explained (including the red flag type diagnosis) response. (News shocker… ADHD and High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder) when provided all previously diagnoses I was not even made aware of after appointments to ‘figure out solutions’.

Provided a lengthy response in SOR.

Now waiting for someone to grant my Clearnce response.

My issue would have never occured if I was directly told to go look for my behavioral health treatment records initially first if I was made aware and known such information was made after each and any appointments regardless if just considered as needing to ‘talk to find solutions’.

How common is this and if it is common why does no one do anything to fix this?

2

The form would then have to direct you to review your school records, court records, law enforcement records, and all of the credit bureau reports.

If you were seeing a behavioral health professional, you should be aware if there might be a concern. Just as someone with collection accounts, law suits, and arrests should know there are records…

Not being callused but somewhere along the line the Subject needs to accept responsibility for what they report on their security questionnaire. How can they be responsible enough to work in high risk or classified work otherwise.

2 Likes
3

If someone was to look at the question “regarding Behavioral Health” they asked it as a very misleading manner.

It states were you ever diagnosed as “xyz”

(granted, I do not have the form directly in front of me to specifically quote as an example)

As someone who is not trained, experienced, or knowledgeable in this type of ‘background’ as many others are not who fill this out, but have gone ‘randomly’ to behavioral health to sort out the issues at hand from work do you really think the behavioral health specialist actually tells each patient (who is the one trying to figure out problems) the end statement diagnosis?

Considering that Behavioral Health Specialists need to input the billing code ‘description’, when do you think the ‘billing code’ (identified as the type of disorder or diagnosis each time) and the reason for the visit officially gets informed to the individual seeking ‘clarity’?

Do you think the individual seeking ‘clarity’ gets a letter in the mail saying, “On xyz date you visited behavioral health and we billed healthcare abc under the diagnosis of ‘xyz’ ensure you report this on your SF86 when ‘x’ years have passed come around and know where to look for this informaiton each time?”

Does the questionnaire CLARIFY ANY DIAGNOSIS or just specific diagnosis implied to mean GENERALLY ALL DIAGNOSIS EVER GIVEN 'even if disagreed or ‘updated now to just be xyz instead’?

Or do you think the individual just gets absolutely no feedback or information regarding what is expected to be their responsibility to automatically know in expectations for responsibility to report and automatically takes it upon their own responsibility (even as a private without any leadership guidance or direction to fill this out) properly knowing all the specific methods required to gather all ‘assumed and said known’ information?

Is this SF86 a responsibility inquiry of doing what is ‘expected’, or a ‘honesty and integrity’ check with what is known to verify unless otherwise clarified?

I mean if it was just a doing what is ‘automatically expected and responsible for working in a high risk and or classified area’ there would be no need for investigators and adjudicators to further investigate if questionable or unclear and no need for a ‘whole picture’ concept…(unless I misunderstand what an investigator and adjudicator is expected to do when receiving an SF86 or SOR).

A simple honest mistake (due to lack of knowledge regarding the requirements from no training) versus, intentional (knowingly and intentionally failing to report information)bmis-representation…

Where does that fall into the category of responsibility? Failure to get proper training and clarifications before filling out the SF86 because everyone knows all the exact procedures and requirements to gather all the information for everything the first time?

I appologize if I sound ‘heated’ or ‘upset’ in my rely.

I am just simply baffled how ‘responsibility’ and lack of ‘responsibilty’ after appointments are prioritized because there’s no current behavioral health accountability in the military’s current process after going to a behavioral health appointment and someone has to literally request their medical records (each time) just to see what information was placed after each and every appointment due to the SF86 requirements.

Similar to Physical ailment medical appointments, if it was something simple like a common cold or minor bruise unless you are required to provide this report to some type of physical fitnesss board (for unknown reasons) it should not be needed for further reference search to fill out information on. (Unless you are told in the appointment it is related having anemia ‘low iron in blood’ diagnosis and need to keep records now every time after an appointment for your annual physical checkup)

Responsibility is not known until it is properly explained how and what is needed from where.

Referring to my initial post comment concept Statement:

SF86 or Behavioral Health does a poor job of properly explaining what is needed and why

4

Good Luck with your response.

2 Likes
5

That is a lot of words.

3 Likes
6

You are not adjudicated based off a simple diagnosis. You are adjudicated based off the state of your mental health. We have procedures to follow for when the health care provider answers a question in a certain way. The questions we ask are not even based around gathering information pertaining to specific diagnoses they are based upon gathering information about whether you are a security risk. If the healthcare provider answers in such a way as to indicate a potential security risk that is the only reason we would dig further to attempt to get more information.

Everything you are rambling off shows you have no idea how the process works and you are grasping at straws to justify leaving out information. If you have a diagnosis that affects your judgment, reliability, trustworthiness, or ability to hold a confidence I am skeptical that you would be unaware of that knowledge.

2 Likes
7

The mental and emotional health section has gone through several revisions. At one point we simply asked have you consulted with a health care professional regarding a mental health condition? Then we added qualifier…marital/grief/family counseling was excluded from being reported, any care related to military combat was excluded. It’s still being revised. Most recently we added diagnosis to the “have you been” part of the question.

Like someone mentioned, at some point, the Subject needs to take responsibility for collecting and verifying the information on the form.

The questions we ask a mental health provider are initially VERY LIMITED in scope. In fact, you should have signed the release form that includes the very questions we ask. So, no, I don’t believe that the form should instruct military members to get a copy of their records. Please be aware that not everyone who completes the form is a service member.

1 Like
8

I don’t mean for this to come off as judgmental, but how does one, as an adult whether they have a clearance or not, go speak to a health care professional for ANYTHING, and not follow up with that person to find out what the diagnoses are (if any) and what the prognosis and treatment plan going forward are? Wouldn’t you want to know that just for your own sake whether it was asked on the security questionnaire or not?

I’m not an adjudicator, but as an investigator, it would raise more red flags to me if a subject was sitting across from me telling me that they weren’t instructed to request their records and were unable to answer the questions on the form as opposed to someone who knew their diagnoses and was working with a professional to manage it if that was a part of the treatment plan.

Also, side note, the beginning paragraphs in EQIP before you actually start completing the form, DO specify that as part of your background investigation, routine checks are conducted, and that does include medical records. So yeah… while it doesn’t specifically give you a directive to go to your health care facility and pull your own records, it does acknowledge that we may do it as part of your background investigation, which is kind of a major hint for the subject to go over their own records so they don’t miss anything.

2 Likes