§ 16–4802. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term:

(1) "Adverse immigration action" includes any of the following events:

(A) Arrest or apprehension by any local, state, or federal law enforcement officer for an alleged violation of federal immigration law;

(B) Arrest, detention, or custody by the Department of Homeland Security or a federal, state, or local agency authorized or acting on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security;

(C) Departure from the United States under an order of removal, deportation, exclusion, voluntary departure, or expedited removal, or a stipulation of voluntary departure;

(D) The denial, revocation, or delay of the issuance of a visa or transportation letter by the Department of State;

(E) The denial, revocation, or delay of the issuance of a parole document or reentry permit by the Department of Homeland Security; or

(F) The denial of admission or entry into the United States by the Department of Homeland Security or other local or state officer acting on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security.

(1A) “Alternate standby guardian” means a person with all the rights, responsibilities, and qualifications of a standby guardian who acts as the standby guardian if the current or originally designated standby guardian repudiates the designation, becomes incapacitated, or dies.

(2) “Attending clinician” means a licensed physician or licensed nurse practitioner who:

(A) Has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of a designator;

(B) Shares the responsibility for the treatment and care of a designator, or is acting on behalf of the licensed physician or licensed nurse practitioner who has primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the designator; or

(C) Is familiar with the designator’s medical condition in cases where no licensed physician or licensed nurse practitioner has the responsibility for the treatment and care of a designator.

(3) “Child” means a person under 18 years of age.

(4) “Consent” means a written authorization signed by the designator.

(5) “Court” means the Domestic Relations Branch of the Family Division [Family Court] of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

(5A) "COVID-19" means the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

(6) "Debilitation" means those periods when a person cannot care for that person's minor child as a result of:

(A) A chronic condition caused by physical illness, disease, or injury from which, to a reasonable degree of probability, the designator may not recover; or

(B) A serious medical condition caused by COVID-19.

(7) “Designation” means the written naming of a standby guardian by the designator.

(8) “Designator” means a custodial parent, including a person other than a parent who has physical custody of a child and who has been awarded legal custody or guardianship by a court.

(9) “Determination of incapacity” means a written determination made by the attending clinician that, to a reasonable degree of certainty, a designator is chronically and substantially unable to understand the nature and consequences of decisions concerning the care of a minor child as a result of a mental or organic impairment and is consequently unable to care for the minor child.

(10) "Incapacity" means:

(A) A chronic and substantial inability, as a result of a mental or organic impairment, to understand the nature and consequences of decisions concerning the care of a minor child, and a consequent inability to care for the minor child; or

(B) A substantial inability, as a result of COVID-19, to understand the nature and consequences of decisions concerning the care of a minor child, and a consequent inability to care for the minor child.

(11) “Parent” means the biological parent or adoptive mother or father of a child.

(12) “Standby guardian” means a person named by the designator to assume the duties of a legal custodian of a child upon the occurrence of a triggering event.

(13) "Triggering event" means any of the following events:

(A) The designator is subject to an adverse immigration action; or

(B) The designator has been diagnosed, in writing, by a licensed clinician to suffer from a chronic condition caused by injury, disease, or illness from which, to a reasonable degree of probability, the designator may not recover and the designator:

(i) Becomes debilitated, with the designator's written acknowledgement of debilitation and consent to commencement of the standby guardianship;

(ii) Becomes incapacitated as determined by an attending clinician; or

(iii) Dies; or

(i) Becomes debilitated, with the designator's written acknowledgement of debilitation and consent to commencement of the standby guardianship;

(ii) Becomes incapacitated as determined by an attending clinician; or

(iii) Dies.