§ 135.2 - Definitions.

§ 135.2 Definitions.

For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

Covered employee.

(1) An employee of the Department who, on or after January 1, 2016, becomes injured by reason of a qualifying injury to the brain.

(2) The following are considered employees of the Department (see procedures in 3 FAM 3660 and its subchapters) for the purposes of this rulepart: Department of State Foreign Service Officers; Department of State Foreign Service Specialists; Department of State Civil Service employees; Consular Affairs - Appointment Eligible Family Member Adjudicator positions; Expanded Professional Associates Program members; Family Member Appointments; Foreign Service Family Reserve Corps; employees on Limited Non-Career Appointments; Temporary Appointments; students providing volunteer services under 5 U.S.C. 3111; personnel on a Personal Services Contract; and Locally Employed Staff, whether employed on a Personal Services Agreement, Personal Services Contract, or appointed to the position; and Embassy Science Fellows, unless they are an employee of another Federal agency.

(3) The following are not considered employees of the Department for purposes of these regulations (see § 135.4): employees or retired employees of other agencies.

Covered dependent: A family member of a Department current or former employee who, on or after January 1, 2016, becomes injured by reason of a qualifying injury to the brain while the dependent's sponsor was a covered employee of the Department.

Covered individual: A former employee of the Department who, on or after January 1, 2016, becomes injured by reason of a qualifying injury to the brain while they were a covered employee of the Department.

Family member: For purposes of determining “covered dependent”, a family member is defined as follows:

(1) Children who are unmarried and under 21 years of age or, regardless of age, are unmarried and due to mental and/or physical limitations are incapable of self-support. The term “children” must include natural offspring, step-children, adopted children, and those under permanent legal guardianship (at least until age 18), or comparable permanent custody arrangement, of the employee or spouse or domestic partner (as defined in 3 FAM 1610) when dependent upon and normally residing with the guardian or custodial party, and U.S. citizen children placed for adoption if a U.S. court grants temporary guardianship of the child to the employee and specifically authorizes the child to reside with the employee in the country of assignment before the adoption is finalized;

(2) Parents (including stepparents and legally adoptive parents) of the employee or of the spouse or of the domestic partner as defined in 3 FAM 1610.

(3) Sisters and brothers (including stepsisters or stepbrothers, or adoptive sisters or brothers) of the employee, or of the spouse when such sisters and brothers are at least 51 percent dependent on the employee for support, unmarried and under 21 years of age, or regardless of age, are physically and/or mentally incapable of self-support; and

(4) Spouse.

Qualifying injury to the brain.

(1) The injury must have occurred in connection with war, insurgency, hostile act, terrorist activity, or other incidents designated by the Secretary of State, and that was not the result of the willful misconduct of the covered individual; and

(2) The individual must have:

(i) An acute injury to the brain such as, but not limited to, a concussion, penetrating injury, or as the consequence of an event that leads to permanent alterations in brain function as demonstrated by confirming correlative findings on imaging studies (to include computed tomography scan (CT) , or magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI)) , or electroencephalogram (EEG); or

(ii) A medical diagnosis of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that required active medical treatment for 12 months or more; or

(iii) Acute onset of new persistent, disabling neurologic symptoms as demonstrated by confirming correlative findings on imaging studies (to include CT , or MRI), or EEG, or physical exam, or other appropriate testing, and that required active medical treatment for 12 months or more.

Other incident: A new onset of physical manifestations that cannot otherwise be readily explained.

[87 FR 38984, June 30, 2022, as amended at 88 FR 4726, Jan. 25, 2023]