State laws significantly impact military families in a variety of areas. To help address state-level challenges affecting the quality of life of military families, the DSLO engages and educates state policymakers and other state leaders about the needs of military members and their families.
Each year, the DSLO staff meets with key parties, including partnering agencies, issue owners and DOD leadership, to determine potential priorities for the following year based on a comprehensive study of potential state policy priorities.
DSLO assesses potential priorities based upon mission/family support priority and potential for acceptance by states. Priorities are selected for further extensive research. Once researched, DSLO revises the list of 10 state policy priorities by substituting one to three of these researched priorities for current priorities on the list, which are of a lesser priority or do not need to be on the list to obtain further state approval. DSLO submits a strawman of the revised 10 state policy priorities to the military departments, Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Guard Bureau staff, and Office of the Secretary of Defense staff for their concurrence prior to submitting the new list to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs for approval.