The Division of Family and Medical Leve Insurance will oversee the implementation and regulation of Maryland’s new paid leave benefit program. Here, we spotlight the new Division and its leadership.
The Maryland Department of Labor has created a new office to guide the implementation and regulation of the state’s new paid leave benefits law and program. Called The Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI), the FAMLI Division is tasked with establishing and administering Maryland’s paid family and medical leave insurance system. Its website calls the office “a new and growing team within the Maryland Department of Labor.”
The FAMLI Division will ensure that workers in Maryland have access to paid leave when they need to be away from work to care for themselves or a family member. The FAMLI system was authorized in 2022 under the Time to Care Act. Modifications to this law were made during the 2023 legislative session, which included changes to the implementation timeline.
Currently, the FAMLI Division is working with stakeholders to develop regulations that will ultimately guide implementing and managing the FAMLI benefit.
Meet the FAMLI Team
The FAMLI Division currently has a leadership team of four.
- Elliott Schreur: In May, Schreur was named Family and Medical Leave Insurance Assistant Secretary to oversee the new division. “For more than a decade, Schreur has focused his career on research, policy analysis, and benefits administration for state and federal government programs. Most recently, Elliot served as the chief of the division of policy and research for the Office of Paid Family Leave in the District of Columbia’s Department of Employment Services.”
- Daniel Newberger: Newberger was appointed as Family and Medical Leave Insurance Deputy Assistant Secretary. Newberger has extensive management and strategic planning experience in nonprofits and public sectors. He also ran for the Howard County School Board.
- Regan Vaughan: Vaughan serves as Policy Director for the FAMLI Division. As former advocacy director for Catholic Charities, Vaughan led the statewide Time to Care Coalition that lobbied for paid leave benefits.
- Jessica Praley: Praley serves as the FAMLI Division’s Assistant Attorney General. Praley has served as an Assistant Attorney General with the Maryland Department of Labor since 2018 but will now specifically work with the FAMLI Division.