Carina Barlow is a medical records technician in Vallejo, California.  She’s a single mom who found out the hard way that she was not eligible for the Paid Family Leave program when her unmarried brother needed help. 

 “My older brother had a heart attack due to diabetes. And I was denied time off work simply because I was not his wife, his mother or his child…”

Eligible workers pay into the program. It gives them partial salary while they bond with a new child or care for an ill parent, child, spouse or domestic partner. 

State Senator Sheila Kuehl wrote the original measure. She is now proposing the law expand to include caring for grandparents, grandchildren and siblings.  Kuehl also cites a state report that shows siblings and grandparents account for the largest number of claims denied.  The report also says most claims are from birth parents for bonding with a new child.