BOARD DATE: 15 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170002990 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ____x____ ___x_____ __x______ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 15 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170002990 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: * showing the applicant applied for and was authorized payment of Board Certification Pay for the period 16 April 2016 through 30 September 2016 * paying her Board Certification Pay, less deductions, for the stated period at the applicable rate for this period 2. The Board further determined the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief. As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to granting the applicant retroactive award of Board Certification Pay from 5 February 2016 through 15 April 2016, as eligibility was not established for this period. ______________x___________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. BOARD DATE: 15 August 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170002990 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests Board Certification Pay for the period from 6 February 2016 to 30 September 2016. 2. The applicant states she was supposed to receive specialty pay after obtaining her psychologist license. Her specialty pay was backdated to October 2016; however, she received her license in February 2016. She was told that the Office of The Surgeon General (OTSG) can no longer process prior fiscal year requests and that she would need to go through this Board to try to get her back pay authorized. 3. The applicant provides a copy of her Board of Psychology Certificate showing she is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia, dated 5 February 2016. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. At the time of her application, the applicant was serving on active duty in the rank of captain, pay grade O-3, assigned as a licensed clinical psychologist at Fort Drum, New York. 2. In the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Special Pay Branch, OTSG. The advisory official recommends approval and payment of Health Professions Officer Incentive Pay (HPO IP) for the period 16 April through 30 September 2016. Additionally, the advisory states: a. Requests for HPO IP are initiated by the officer through his or her command's supporting Human Resources Office. b. The officer is requesting retroactive change to the effective date of her discretionary HPO IP agreement at $5,000.00 per year; payable at $416.66 a month upon receipt of verification of their licensure. c. A review of special pay and finance records indicates the applicant completed the Basic Officers' Leaders Course and received her license on 5 February 2016. According to an email communication from the Officer Personnel Management Directorate, U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), she became eligible to request the discretionary HPO agreement effective 16 April 2016, when she was first credentialed by her installation Medical Treatment Facility. d. Officers bear responsibility for their part of the discretionary agreement process, to include their inquiry as to eligibility, requesting agreement to be initiated and executing the agreement by signature up to 90 days in advance or within 30 days after effective date; otherwise, the effective date must be reestablished as date of signature. All agreements executed outside of the policy for signature date or received outside of the funded fiscal year, are returned without action. e. The applicant met the general criteria for the discretionary HPO IP agreement on 16 April 2016. Retroactive approval would generate a prorated authorization of approximately $2,305.00 prior to any withholding taxes. The exact payment should be determined by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Indianapolis, Indiana. 3. On 6 June 2017, a copy of the advisory opinion was sent to the applicant for her information and to provide her an opportunity to submit comments or rebuttal. No response was received. REFERENCES: 1. ALARACT 195/2010, subject: Army Special Pay Plan for Licensed Clinical Psychologists, Social Workers, Physician Assistants and Veterinarians; under paragraph 4 – General Eligibility Criteria for the HPO special pays indicate officer must be a commissioned HPO who is a graduate of the AMEDD Officer Basic Course and be fully qualified by award of an area of concentration (AOC) in the specialty. Additionally, subparagraph 4.C. (5) indicates that officer, as a health care provider (HCP) must be currently credentialed and privileged, or actively seeking privileges at a Medical Treatment Facility in the specialty for which the HPO is to be paid; which requires a HCP license. 2. Title 37, U.S. Code, section, 302c, provides the eligibility criteria for the discretionary special pay category of NPBCP. It requires officers to hold the specialty identifier, board certified in that specialty by their national professional specialty board and trained at the master's degree level of education for their specialty. 3. Title 37, U.S. Code, section, 335(b) provides that requests for discretionary category of HPO incentive pay are upon execution of an agreement and initiated by the officer through their command’s supporting human relations personnel officer. 4. Army Regulation 37-104-4 (Military Pay and Allowances Policy), 8 June 2005, chapter 20 (Settlement Actions Resulting from Corrections of Record by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR)), provides that the Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service-Indianapolis, may make settlement actions affecting the military pay accounts of Soldiers as a result of correction of records by the ABCMR per Army Regulation 15-185 (ABCMR). DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant contends that her military records should be corrected by showing she is authorized to receive BCP effective February 2016 based on her obtaining a psychologist license. Her specialty pay was back dated to October 2016; however, she received her license in February 2016. She was told OTSG can no longer process prior fiscal year requests, which is the reason for her application to this Board. 2. OTSG reviewed the supporting documentation and available special pay and finance date and determined the applicant’s certification period was effective 16 April 2016, not her date of board certification of 5 February 2016. The Military Treatment Facility is required to provide credentialing. As she received her credentials to practice on 16 April 2016, this date becomes her date of eligibility for the HPO IP. The advisory official notes that action by this Board is required to authorize retroactive payment of HPO IP for the period 16 April to 30 September 2016. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170002990 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170002990 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2