Children-and-youth

Last year, California lawmakers set aside $60 million in the state budget to support Court Appointed Special Advocates, which help thousands of foster care children statewide. But with the state facing a growing deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed to claw back two-thirds of the money.

A 2022 study revealed that child care workers in California are paid just 25-30% of the cost of providing care. The inadequate pay has racist roots, and workers in this crucial industry are demanding action from state leaders.

Despite recent policy changes, many California families seeking behavioral health treatment through Medi-Cal struggle to get the services they need in a timely manner. Given the scale of the emergency, state leaders must ensure these systems are sustainably resourced.

Roughly 60,000 children are in California's foster care system. For years, state leaders have failed to make progress or increase support for them. In 2023, it must be a priority.

Some child advocates worry that California's tool to screen kids for adverse childhood experiences has pitfalls that could cause even greater harm. Doctors argue that the innovative program is effective and beneficial, and creating systemic change in health care.

California's well-meaning program to treat adverse childhood experiences relies on a system that requires doctors to report them, even if it doesn't amount to abuse. The result could cause even greater harm to children.

Medi-Cal doctors are screening more patients for adverse childhood experiences, but they aren’t required to report whether those patients receive therapy or other services they may need. Yet getting that helps is key to preventing chronic health or mental health conditions later in life, research finds.

For the last two years, some families who receive subsidized child care got a waiver from the fees they pay to participate. But the waiver will end next year after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have extended it, citing an expected decrease in state revenue.

A beleaguered state program that provides hearing aids to children may soon include families with partial insurance coverage and youth up to 21 years old after the Legislature included the expansion in the budget bills. About 2,000 more children would be helped.

California counties regularly take the Social Security benefits of foster youth who are disabled or whose parents have died. Advocates say it amounts to children paying for their own foster care.