Points to Ponder #06-06

POINTS TO PONDER

Issue 06-06

From CSFC President Helen Zajac

CATEGORY:  Service   December 18, 2006 

Subject:  Chapter Service Officer and Service Centers  

One very important aspect of NARFE Chapters which is often overlooked is the fact that each chapter has Service Officer.  Some chapters also have volunteers who staff a Service Center with scheduled times to assist you.  The Service Officer and Service Center volunteers perform duties similar to the Personnel or Human Resource Office at our federal agencies.  However, once you retire, access to these offices at federal agencies is lost.

Have you ever come across a problem related to your Federal retiree or survivior benefits and wonder where you could go for help?  The answer is your Chapter’s Service Officer and/or the nearest NARFE Service Center.  Service Officers and Service Center volunteers perform the same functions. 

They play a vital role in meeting the needs of NARFE members and their families.  They:

            - Help individual members, their families and survivors take the proper actions to obtain and retain their annuities, and health and federal group life insurance benefits;

            - Provide emotional support to members having serious problems with their benefit arrangements and particularly to surviving spouses when they suffer the trauma of a death or serious illness.

            - Make the availability of their services and assistance known to all members through newspaper/newsletter articles and reports at chapter meetings.

The Service Officers and Service Center volunteers are knowledgeable about:

            - Federal procedures governing delivery of annuity payments.

            - Life insurance, federal employees’ health benefits, and long term care insurance.

            - Survivor benefits under current laws administered by OPM.

            - Change of beneficiary.

            - Rights of divorced spouses to survivor benefits.

            - Death benefits.

            - State and federal income taxes as related to federal annuities and withholding.

            - Social Security referral information.

            - Requirements for other government programs.

At last count in our California Federation, we had approximately 113 people designated as Service Officer and 15 Service Centers in Federal Office locations, Civic Centers, Senior Centers and others in homes.    Many of those designated as being responsible for providing service are not known in their Chapter because recognition has not been given or they are strictly carrying the title because no one else volunteered. 

The Service Officer responsibility is a rewarding job, especially for those who are interested in helping others.  We need individuals who are interested in learning about benefits and also interested in passing the information on to others.  The Chair of the Federation Service Standing Committee, Mary Venerable, provides a quarterly publication “Service Officers for Service” (SOS) Newsletter.  She is in the 6^th year of publication and every one of the newsletters has been placed on the Federation Web Site (www.csfcnarfe.org) for reference and download.  She has also provided an index by subject which references the particular SOS Newsletter.

Unfortunately, the primary contact made by members is for the purpose of getting the paperwork needed to report the death of a spouse or surviving spouse. With this task, our Service Officers have an excellent opportunity to encourage the survivor to continue NARFE membership to provide a source of information to that survivor, who is often not a federal retiree, and provide support through chapter involvement.  Some Service Officers do not have internet access; therefore, it is important for the Chapter NARFE-NET Coordinator to provide information such as the SOS Newsletter to the Service Officers.  Another unfortunate situation is that some Service Officers do not make it a point to have a topic to discuss at each chapter meeting, nor provide an article for the Chapter Newsletter; there’s lots of information to share with members.    

It is the Service Officers’ responsibility to become known within each Chapter and we ask the Presidents of each Chapter include a Service item at each meeting.  Chapters with Service Centers need to make the members aware of the valuable service they offer members and provide the members with the schedule when there are volunteers present to meet “face to face” to resolve concerns or answer questions.  If these volunteers do not have an answer there is a “network” of Service Committee members to assist, and our Service Committee Chair has many resources available with the Office of Personnel Management, Social Security and NARFE Headquarters. 

We need more Service Officers and volunteers in Service Centers.  You don’t need a background in “personnel matters”, just the interest and willingness to learn and help others. We especially are looking for those members who have FERS, as most new retirees are covered by FERS, rather than CSRS.   

If you would like to volunteer for this valuable service and receive some detailed training as a Service Officer, or if you need additional training as a Service Officer, please contact me.

Helen Zajac
CSFC President
HLZ17@aol.com
707-644-7565