Public Law 115–256: To amend the Peace Corps Act to expand services and benefits for volunteers, and for other purposes.

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“SEC. 5A.

President.

22 USC 2504a.

HEALTH CARE FOR VOLUNTEERS AT PEACE CORPS POSTS.

The Secretary shall authorize the Director of the Peace Corps to furnish medical benefits to a volunteer, who is injured during the volunteer’s period of service, for a period of 120 days following the termination of such service if the Director certifies 132 STAT. 3653 that the volunteer’s injury probably meets the requirements under subsection (c)(3). The Secretary may then certify vouchers for these expenses for such volunteer out of the Employees’ Compensation Fund.

The Secretary shall prescribe the form and content of the certification required under paragraph (1).

A certification under paragraph (1) will cease to be effective if the volunteer sustains compensable disability in connection with volunteer service.

Nothing in this subsection may be construed to authorize the furnishing of any medical benefit that the Secretary of Labor is not otherwise authorized to reimburse for former Peace Corps volunteers who receive treatment for injury or disease proximately caused by their service in the Peace Corps in accordance with this chapter.”

The Director of the Peace Corps may designate Peace Corps positions as critical management or management support positions that require specialized technical or professional skills and knowledge of Peace Corps operations. Such positions may include positions in the following fields:

Subject to subparagraphs (C) and (D), with respect to positions designated pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Director may make or extend renewable appointments or assignments under paragraph (2) notwithstanding limitations 132 STAT. 3654 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) and paragraph (5).

In exercising authority under subparagraph (B), the Director shall ensure that all decisions regarding the appointment, assignment, or extension of employees to any position designated pursuant to subparagraph (A)—

The term of any appointment or assignment to any position designated pursuant to subparagraph (A) may not exceed 5 years.”

The President shall implement procedures to maintain a record verifying each individual completing training provided to meet each requirement in this section and sections 8A, 8B, 8F, and 8G(b).”

Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Director of the Peace Corps may not open, close, significantly reduce, or suspend a domestic or overseas office or country program unless the Director has notified and consulted with the appropriate congressional committees at least 15 days in advance.

The Director of the Peace Corps may waive the application of paragraph (1) for a period of not more than 5 days after an action described in such paragraph if the Director determines such action is necessary to ameliorate a substantial security risk to Peace Corps volunteers or other Peace Corps personnel.

For the purposes of this subsection, the term ‘’ means—

Not later than 10 days after receiving notification of the death of a volunteer, the President shall provide a briefing to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps that includes—

“(A)

“(B)

If the Peace Corps has performed or engaged another entity to perform a root cause analysis or similar report that describes the cause or root cause of a volunteer death, the President shall provide the Inspector General of the Peace Corps with—

If a volunteer dies, the Peace Corps shall take reasonable measures, in accordance with local laws, to preserve any information or material, in any medium or format, that may be relevant to determining the cause or root cause of the death of the volunteer, including personal effects, medication, and other tangible items belonging to the volunteer, as long as such measures do not interfere with the legal procedures of the host country if the government of the host country is exercising jurisdiction over the investigation of such death. The Inspector General of the Peace Corps shall be provided an opportunity to inspect such items before their final disposition.

Consistent with the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), the Inspector General of the Peace Corps may independently review the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of a volunteer and the actions taken by the Peace Corps in responding to such incident.

For the purposes of undertaking a review under this section, an officer or employee of the United States or a member of the Armed Forces may be detailed to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps from another department of the United States Government on a nonreimbursable basis, as jointly agreed to by the Inspector General and the detailing department, for a period not to exceed 1 year. This paragraph may not be construed to limit or modify any other source of authority for reimbursable or nonreimbursable details. A nonreimbursable detail made under this section may not be considered an augmentation of the appropriations of the Peace Corps.

Upon request, the Peace Corps may make available necessary funds to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps for reviews conducted by the Inspector General under this section. The request shall be limited to costs relating to hiring, procuring, or otherwise obtaining medical-related experts or expert services, and associated travel.

The undertaking of a review under this section may not be considered a transfer of program operating responsibilities to the Inspector General of the Peace Corps.”

“(1)

In general.—

maintains a record documenting the resignation of any employee or volunteer of the Peace Corps who resigns before a determination has been made regarding an alleged violation of the sexual misconduct policy or other serious policy violations;

takes into account the record maintained under paragraph (7) before such employee or volunteer is hired, enrolled, or otherwise invited to work with the Peace Corps;

provides orientation or information regarding the awareness and prevention of sexual assault and sexual harassment to—

ensures, to the extent practicable and appropriate, that any assault on, or any harm or injury to, a volunteer that is committed by any member of a host family or any national of a host country that was assigned by the Peace Corps to facilitate volunteer work is—

The Director of the Peace Corps shall include the head of the Office of Victim Advocacy in agency-wide policymaking processes in the same manner and to the same extent as the directors or associate directors of other offices within the Peace Corps.”

”

The term ‘’ means a physician, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, or registered nurse with the professional qualifications, expertise, and abilities consistent with the needs of the Peace Corps and the post to which he or she is assigned, as determined by the Director of the Peace Corps.”