Council Travel and Reimbursement

As a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC), your Council-related travel is processed by Ms. Debra Dabney of the NIMH Office for Special Projects. There are two key components of Government travel—issuance of a TRAVEL ORDER before a trip, and submission of a TRAVEL VOUCHER to claim reimbursement of a trip's expenses.

A TRAVEL ORDER provides an estimate of anticipated travel expenses that will either be prepaid for the traveler with Federal funds, or reimbursed to the traveler following the submission of a Travel Voucher (see below). An authorized Travel Order must be issued to all Federal employees, invitees, guests, etc., when traveling on official business for the Government. Therefore, it is imperative to have Ms. Dabney prepare a Travel Order prior to each of your Council-related trips.

A TRAVEL VOUCHER is an itemized Expense Report used to obtain reimbursement of travel expenses. Council members' travel vouchers are prepared by Ms. Dabney upon member submission of corresponding trip receipts following his or her Council-related travel. Travel Vouchers must be reviewed and approved by the NIMH Administrative Office, and certified by the traveler, before payment is electronically disbursed to the traveler's financial institution.

TRAVELING TO THE WINTER, SPRING AND FALL COUNCIL SESSIONS

When planning to travel to these meetings, please note the following:

Lodging
Approximately three weeks prior to each Council session, you will be contacted by Ms. Debra Dabney (via E-mail or telephone), to obtain your dates of travel and lodging requirements. A reservation will be made for you at an NIMH-contracted hotel. Your reservation will be secured with the credit card that you provide to Ms. Dabney. You will be responsible for the payment of lodging expenses, and will be reimbursed upon submission of the billing statement. Please be advised that the reimbursable lodging items are limited to: the per night room rate (including Occupancy and State taxes), telephone calls up to $5 per day, and any meeting-related business center charges.

Transportation
You should contact the NIH travel contractor, OMEGA World Travel, to make COACH CLASS air or rail reservations. Reservations made through OMEGA will be prepaid by the NIH. Please be advised that NIH will not prepay or reimburse First Class or Business Class tickets. When communicating with OMEGA, please inform them that you are an NIMH Council member. The OMEGA travel agents assigned to Council are Lydia Pringle, and Susan St. John.

OMEGA Telephone Numbers
Toll free: 1-866-264-8281
Direct Dial: 301/984-8985
Fax: 301/984-9552

Issuance of a Travel Order
Upon notification of your intent to travel to a Council meeting, an NAMHC Workgroup meeting, or an external meeting as a Council representative, Ms. Dabney will prepare a Travel Order for your trip. The travel order will be faxed or mailed to your office in advance of your scheduled date of departure. It is recommended that you carry the travel order with you on your trip.

Submitting a Travel Voucher
At the conclusion of your trip, complete the Traveler Expense Form and mail all associated trip receipts and the NAMHC Travel Receipts Form, to Ms. Dabney at the address listed on the receipts form. A travel voucher will be prepared to claim expenses for the trip. The voucher will be submitted to the NIMH Administrative Office for review and approval. Upon receiving NIMH approval, the voucher will be faxed to your office for review and signature. The endorsed voucher should be returned to Ms. Dabney at the Fax number provided on the Fax Coversheet. Payment will be electronically disbursed to your financial institution within 3 business days of our receipt of the endorsed voucher.

TRAVELING TO A COUNCIL WORKGROUP MEETING OR TO A MEETING ON BEHALF OF THE NAMHC

For members who serve on Council Workgroups or who are occasionally invited to attend external meetings as a representative of the Council, please be advised that while the logistics, correspondence, etc. for these meetings are typically handled by the meeting sponsor, Ms. Dabney is still responsible for preparing your travel order and travel voucher. Therefore, notify Ms. Dabney of your travel plans in advance of the meeting so that a travel order can be prepared for you. Air/rail reservations should again be made through OMEGA World Travel. To obtain reimbursement, complete the Traveler Expense Form, and mail applicable trip receipts, and the NAMHC Travel Receipts Form to Ms. Dabney at the address listed on the expense receipts page.

Document last updated by DDabney on 1/24/03