I’m in the middle of filling out my first SF86 for a secret clearance and have a few concern.
My first concern is this: Between 12-15 years old I had some ongoing mental health issues (Bi-polar, anxiety, depression) and was in 3 different facilities during that time. I am in the middle of retrieving the dates for the first facility, but the second and third (a group home and another hospital facility) are an issue. My parents have no records and I can’t find anything about the places online not even address or phone number. I believe the group home was actually shut down, but is there a way to show this?
My second concern is because I have three periods of unemployment of which I have no verifiers for. I was not collecting unemployment and was living with my parents.
Due to the previously mentioned mental health issues I had ONE friend and to my understanding you can only use a person as a verifier once. I have seen other people list a parent for unemployment verification, but also others say not to. Should I list this friend as the verifier of all 3 or list him and my parents?
I apologize if this could have been worded better, but I’m freaking out a little right now.
The additional comments section is your friend. Be brief and to the point. Nobody wants to read a long, rambling paragraph of whatever so and so has to say.
You’ll be asked for additional information.
As for unemployment verifiers, you can list anyone except yourself and you cannot list an unemployment office. You can use an unemployment verifier as often as you want - it’s YOUR application. Whether an agency accepts or asks for additional info remains to be seen.
Yes . . . On my last SF-86, I listed my wife as the contact for three periods of unemployment. You can list your parents particularly if you were living with them.
You don’t how old you are so we don’t know how long ago the hospitalizations were. Another source of information might a therapist that your discharge. If they still have records or notes, the information that you need might be there. But, in any case, you’re not really expected to have records from your childhood. Provide as much information as you can and explain the issue.
They are, primarily, interested in your current state of mind and how issues from the past may still affect your ability to safely handle classified information.
Your parents can be your verifiers for those periods of unemployment if they can speak to your activities and means of support during that time.
And yes, list the hospitalizations because I believe they fall under the “have you ever” category, so they must be listed. Do the best you can and explain it in the additional comments section as well as with the investigator.
It should not be a problem. It’s actually expected that family will be able to verify unemployment. (Obviously it’s best if someone else can, but that’s rarely the case)