Too few children in California have access to mental health care services. For school-aged children, locating services at school is effective and efficient: school-based health systems meet students where they are, eliminate transportation barriers, and improve both health and education outcomes. Yet few schools in the state are fully equipped to…

School-based health centers (SBHCs) are an innovative and effective way to address California's severe health care access problem among children. By providing critical health care services to kids in school, SBHCs ensure children get the medical, mental health, and dental care they need to be healthy and safe, and to support their ability to…

Over the last decade, California leaders have made tremendous progress on supporting kids in some crucial areas. They have vastly increased the percentage of children enrolled in health insurance and made paid family leave available for most workers. They have also invested in free school meals, committed to universal transitional kindergarten,…

For the first time in many years, the Administration's proposed state budget does not project a deficit. Painful budget cutting in recent years combined with voters passing Proposition 30 in November to generate revenues finally have put California on more stable fiscal ground. However, it is critical to recognize that kids have borne a…

The 2019-20 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California is the comprehensive roadmap at the state level to ensure that all children have the necessary supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to end systemic injustices that create barriers to kids of color, as well as kids living in poverty and undocumented kids, from growing…

California has long been on the cutting edge of social and political change. This trendsetting continues today on issues from addressing climate change to supporting immigrant communities to ensuring equal rights for all. But, when reviewing the grades of this year's California Children's Report Card, it is difficult not to ask the question: why…

Lack of progress for improving the lives of kids is unacceptable. All children need stability and a path to opportunity. This is true for nearly half of California's children who live in low-income families, where caregivers struggle to afford the quality support and services they need for their kids. This is also true for the approximately…

"The 2021 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California" is the comprehensive state-level roadmap to ensure that all children have the necessary supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to end systemic injustices that create barriers to kids of color, as well as kids living in poverty and undocumented kids, from…

There is strong consensus in California and in the country around the notions of equal opportunity for all children, and giving kids a chance of having it better than their parents. The reality in California is that most families lack the means and resources to provide their children with the basic building blocks of a productive life in the 21st…