President Obama Announces Presidential Directive to Strengthen and Support Military Families

Today, President Obama announced a new Presidential Study Directive that will focus on improving the lives of military families. "This is a matter of national security," said President Obama. "With millions of military spouses, parents and children sacrificing as well, the readiness of our Armed Forces depends on the readiness of our military families."

During the past two years, President Obama noted, the administration made notable investments to support military families. These efforts include additional military housing, increased childcare, new counseling opportunities, improved career support for spouses, and greater educational assistance through the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

The Presidential Studies Directive: Strengthening Military Families

President Obama noted sixteen members of the Cabinet dedicating their agencies and departments to his initiative, and his directive is the first ever ordered on behalf of military families. In his speech, the President unveiled four focus areas for his Presidential Directive. These areas include:

1. Improving qualify of life for military families. The Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense are working improve access to community mental health services. The President also announced the Treasury Department launched a new office to prevent predatory lending among military families.

Other efforts include:

• The Agriculture Department's efforts to expand its support of military families living in rural areas.
• The Department of the Interior will use national parks to assist wounded veterans during their recovery practice.
• The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other government agencies will all combine forces to spearhead efforts to end veteran homelessness.

2. A greater focus on education for military children. The President noted most military children attend public schools. In turn, he announced the Department of Education will make military children and families a leading priority for a number of its grant programs. The President also called upon each state to participate in the Interstate Compact--an initiative that will ease the transfer process for military children between schools.

3. Provide assistance to military spouses to pursue both an education and careers. The Small Business Administration, as well as the Department of Labor and Department of Commerce will partner with local business communities throughout the country to create new career options for military spouses.

4. Increasing childcare options for military parents with young children. A range of government departments and agencies, including the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, are coming together to create new childcare opportunities for the tens of thousands of children of military parents.

"We also recognize that this can't be a mission for government alone," said the President. "Government has its responsibilities, but 1 percent of Americans may be fighting our wars; 100 percent of Americans need to be supporting our troops and their families."

Many of these efforts to support military families are currently underway, and the President ended his speech reaffirming his administration's commitment to meeting and fulfilling the needs of today's military families and veterans.

See the full announcement from the White House here:

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