1 February 2007

PREFACE
: The “
Taking Care of Our Own
” Program, a sub-set of the Voluntary Leave
Transfer Program (VLTP), was developed to support DoD Fire & Emergency Services (F&ES) personnel with a medical emergency (a medical condition of an employee or a family member of such employee that is likely to require an employee's absence from duty for a prolonged period of time and to result in a substantial loss of income to the employee because of the unavailability of paid leave). The Program invites all DoD F&ES personnel to donate ONE HOUR of annual leave to any DoD F&ES member approved to receive leave under the VLTP to enable F&ES personnel in trouble to focus on recovery rather than financial distress.
PURPOSE : To take care of DoD F&ES personnel by inviting all DoD F&ES personnel assigned to an F&ES organization to donate ONE HOUR of leave to F&ES individual approved to participate in the VLTP. The program is entirely voluntary and no pressure to donate leave is allowed.
SCOPE : All DoD F&ES personnel may participate by donating or receiving leave without regard to the Service component/DoD agency to which they are assigned. No consideration is given to past participation in the Program.
QUALIFICATION TO BENEFIT FROM THE “Taking Care of Our Own” PROGRAM :
All DoD F&ES personnel approved for the VLTP may participate. The recipient may provide a statement concerning his health/physical situation if desired but such information is not required.
PROCEDURES :
The fire chief/senior F&ES manager at the duty station of the leave recipient follows the checklist at Attachment 1 .
The Service component’s F&ES Chief/Director sends the information/checklist received from their fire chiefs to their counterparts at the other Service components, and to all the fire chiefs in their Service component.
The fire chief or senior F&ES representative at each DoD F&ES organization follows the checklist at Attachment 2 and publicizes the Taking Care of Our Own information received from the Service component’s F&ES Chief/Director to all assigned F&ES federal civilian personnel, encouraging them to donate at least one hour of annual leave to the needy family member.
Leave Donors follow the checklist at Attachment 3.
ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS:
The Leave Donation forms may be downloaded at http://www.opm.gov/forms/html/opm.asp
:
 OPM Form 630, Application to Become a Leave Recipient under the Voluntary Leave
Transfer Program

 OPM Form 630-A, Request to Donate Annual Leave to Leave Recipient Under the
Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (Within Agency)
 OPM Form 630-B, Request to Donate Annual Leave to Leave Recipient Under the
Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (Outside Agency)
OPM’s Leave Administration web page is http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/INDEX.asp
.
3 Attachments:
1. Checklist For The Leave Recipient’s Fire Chief
2. Checklist For Leave Donor’s Fire Chief
3. Checklist For Leave Donors

ATTACHMENT 1
CHECHECKLIST FOR THE LEAVE RECIPIENT’S FIRE CHIEF
The Taking Care of Our Own Program was launched in October 2005 to provide a support network for federal civilian members of the DoD Fire and Emergency Services family . The Program provides a simple, systematic,
DoD-wide, means to help family members in crisis who have exhausted their leave. The program entails alerting all members of the family that a fellow member is suffering from a personal or family (medical) crisis and has been approved for the Volunteer Leave Transfer Program . Each family member is asked to donate at least one hour of annual leave to the member in crisis so they can focus on recovering rather than worrying about loss of the pay check (the result of running out of leave). Participation in the program is completely voluntary and no member may be pressured to donate. The single requirement is that the leave recipient must be approved for the Volunteer Leave
Transfer Program.
No strings are attached to participating in the Program for either a leave donor or the leave recipient. No consideration is given to the employing agency, position, grade, past participation of the leave recipient, or other factors which would make the Program difficult or controversial. It is simply a Program to help each other during situations that often represent the most difficult time in our life. Take the Program at face value - it provides an opportunity to dramatically benefit members of our fire family who are in trouble.
Complete this worksheet to alert the family of federal civilian employees that a family member is in need of leave donation to sustain them though a personal or family crisis. This worksheet ensures consistency and avoids delays to obtain correct/additional information:
Ensure leave recipient has been approved for the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program; obtain a copy of the approved OPM Form 630, Application to Become A Leave Recipient Under the Voluntary Leave Transfer
Program.
In the text box below, provide information required to complete OPM Forms 630a and 630b, Blocks 9 or 10 respectively. The information is identical for each form (name, agency, agency’s address, organization, agency, department, office, division, branch, etc.). Send this worksheet to the Chief of Fire & Emergency
Services for the leave recipient’s Agency (Air Force, Army, Navy, USMC, DLA). They will broadcast the alert across the DoD.
Firefighter Keith Lacoy, JEBLCFS, 1790 Gator Blvd Bldg 3848, Virginia Beach, VA 23459
Provide information about the leave recipient. Please ensure that all information provided has been approved for release by the leave recipient or as indicated on the approved OPM Form 630. This information is not a requirement to participate in the Program.
Firefighter Lacoy is the primary care giver for his 10 year old son who underwent surgery on both legs. This procedure has left him confined to bed rest for a minimum of six weeks.
Indicate the leave recipients normal biweekly work schedule (hours): 80 112 120 144 other ___
Provide a point of contact for additional information:
NAME: Marc Smith COM PHONE: 757.322.2404 DSN PHONE: 262.2404 email: marc.j.smith@navy.mil
Provide a FAX number to send completed Forms 630a/630b: COM: 757.444.1222 DSN: 564.1222
Notify the local Civilian Personnel/Human Resources experts when an individual is nominated for the Taking
Care of Our Own Program and is expected to receive internal and external leave donations.
Send this completed form to the Chief of Fire and Emergency Services for your DoD Agency.

ATTACHMENT 2
CHECKLIST FOR LEAVE DONOR’S FIRE CHIEF
The Taking Care of Our Own Program was launched in October 2005 to provide a support network for federal civilian members of the DoD Fire and Emergency Services family . The
Program provides a simple, systematic, DoD-wide means to help family members in crisis who have exhausted their leave. The program entails alerting all members of the family that a fellow member is suffering from a personal or family (medical) crisis and has been approved for
Volunteer Leave Transfer Program . Each family member is asked to donate at least one hour of annual leave to the member in crisis so they can focus on recovering rather than worrying about loss of the pay check (the result of running out of leave). Participation in the program is completely voluntary and no member may be pressured to donate. The single requirement is that the leave recipient must be approved for the Volunteer Leave Transfer Program.
No strings are attached to participating in the Program for either a leave donor or the leave recipient. No consideration is given to the employing agency, position, grade, past participation of the leave recipient, or other factors which would make the Program difficult or controversial.
It is simply a Program to help each other during situations that often represent the most difficult time in our life. Take the Program at face value - it provides an opportunity to dramatically benefit members of our fire family who are in trouble.
Upon notification from the DoD agency’s chief of fire and emergency services that an individual has been entered into the Taking Care of Our Own Program:
Notify the civilian personnel/human resources office that leave donations are pending. At some locations the process of donating will include processing the donations through these offices.
Notify your members that a family member has entered the Taking Care of Our Own
Program. Provide the worksheet at Attachment 3 and the appropriate OPM forms (630-A for donating to individuals in the same DoD agency; 630-B for donating to individuals in another DoD agency) to each leave donor.
Collect the worksheets and OPM forms from leave donors, check for completeness and
FAX them to the POC at the leave recipient’s location (also follow any local procedures).

ATTACHMENT 3
CHECKLIST FOR LEAVE DONORS
The Taking Care of Our Own Program was launched in October 2005 to provide a support network for federal civilian members of the DoD Fire and Emergency Services family . The
Program provides a simple, systematic, DoD-wide, means to help family members in crisis who have exhausted their leave. The program entails alerting all members of the family that a fellow member is suffering from a personal or family (medical) crisis and has been approved for
Volunteer Leave Transfer Program . Each family member is asked to donate at least one hour of annual leave to the member in crisis so they can focus on recovering rather than worrying about loss of the pay check (the result of running out of leave). Participation in the program is completely voluntary and no member may be pressured to donate. The single requirement is that the leave recipient must be approved for the Volunteer Leave Transfer Program.
No strings are attached to participating in the Program for either a leave donor or the leave recipient. No consideration is given to the employing agency, position, grade, past participation of the leave recipient, or other factors which would make the Program difficult or controversial.
It is simply a Program to help each other during situations that often represent the most difficult time in our life. Take the Program at face value - it provides an opportunity to dramatically benefit members of our fire family who are in trouble.
LEAVE DONOR’S NAME
: ______________________________________
Complete all sections of OPM Form 630-A if donating to an individual in the same DoD agency (e.g. AF firefighter donating to another AF firefighter). Information to complete
Block 9 of the form is available from your fire chief and it should look something like:
“John Doe, US Air Force, 4 CES, 144 Saber Dr., Tyndall AFB FL 32403.”
Complete Part A of OPM Form 630-B if donating to an individual in another DoD agency
(e.g. Navy firefighter donating to an Army firefighter). Information to complete Block 10 of the form is available from your fire chief and it should look something like: “John Doe,
US Air Force, 4 CES, 144 Saber Dr., Tyndall AFB FL 32403.”
Indicate your normal biweekly work schedule (hours): 80 112 120 144 other ___.
Provide this worksheet and the completed OPM Form 630-A or 630-B to the POC appointed by your fire chief. The POC will transmit the forms to the POC at the leave recipient’s installation.