Improving Mental Health Reporting Practices in Between Personnel Security Investigations

Abstract : The purpose of the current study was to (1) provide an initial examination into mental health-related incident reporting trends and to (2) evaluate associated policy and reporting practices as they occur in the field. To this end, FY10-FY15 Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) incident reports were analyzed, mental health reporting policies were reviewed, and interviews with personnel security subject matter experts (SMEs) were conducted. Findings uncovered that approximately 6 of all incident reports pertained to Guideline I issues (as entered by security managers [SMs]). Further, the bulk of these incidents encompassed suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and/or depression. Although the recently released DoD Manual 5200.02 (Procedures for the DoD PSP) now includes suicide threats, attempts, or gestures or actions as a specific reportable behavior, it is not clear how SMs should follow-up with subjects once these incident reports are established. Policy review and SME discussions underscore the need to further clarify mental health-related reporting requirements (generally) and to provide guidance to SMs and other involved parties about how best to help subjects when self-harm is a relevant concern. Recommendations are also made to clarify how local personnel security files should be maintained and/or shared across DoD's personnel security community and to begin tracking frequency and timeliness metrics for all incident reporting. Annual incident reporting metrics would help DoD better understand trends and gaps in both Guideline I and Non-Guideline I vetting procedures alike.