President Obama today signed the Defense Reauthorization Act with a provision for expanded family leave for military families. This is an important victory for all families in the U.S. because it acknowledges the value of caregivers in the health of our nation.

The new provision, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Chris Dodd and in the House by Cong. Lynn Woolsey, will amend the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) military family provisions first enacted in Fiscal Year 2008, allowing primary caregivers of military members to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for the wounded service member. Today’s law will extend the time in which the family member can take such leave, and expand the scope of those who would be covered by exigency leave provisions.

You can read the full press release here:
http://familyvaluesatwork.org/blog/2009/10/28/a-national-policy-win-for-military-families/

This is the first of many wins we expect to see in our Valuing Families Agenda. The Valuing Families Agenda, which Family Values at Work initiated along with the National Partnership for Women & Families, has been signed by more than 50 organizations women, labor, business, faith, children, aging and caregiver groups, including MomsRising.org.