The 2023-24 school year saw the highest percentage of kindergarteners exempted from vaccinations, with increases in 40 states and Washington, D.C. In some localities, the so-called health freedom message has led to nonmedical exemption rates as high as 50 percent.
The state’s child-care search website launched this week, listing more than 1,000 providers and matching services available in Spanish and English in an effort to more easily connect families with services they need.
The state’s law imposes sweeping restrictions on Internet companies that serve minors by requiring that they design platforms with children’s well-being in mind. The law will go into effect in 2024.
The state’s child welfare system is considered one of the most dysfunctional and mismanaged in the nation. But a proposal to improve the system, through the creation of a state oversight panel, has stalled.
Economic uncertainty, caused by high inflation rates, the COVID-19 pandemic and international crises, at the state and national level has prompted Gavin Newsom to reject several bills in an effort to maintain a cushioned budget.
A bill that would have allowed prosecutors to sue social media companies for addicting their children to their online platforms died on Thursday, Aug. 11, just ahead of the Technology and Policy Summit.
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.
The state’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency could operate without oversight from a federal judge for the first time in 20 years if one bill becomes law. But the legislation is stalled without a committee hearing date.
Despite a series of federal measures requiring greater efforts to preserve family unity, many policies make life harder for people swept up in the system.
The House approved a bill that will speed up juvenile arraignments, extend hold times for youths and allow GPS monitoring for repeat offenders. But some worry the tough-on-crime approach is ineffective.
The state pours $100 million annually into the system, with a proposed increase of $250 million this year, and yet it remains unable to keep staff and place troubled youths in the right places quickly.
Thousands of low-income families are only eligible for part of their child support because they also receive public assistance. A new plan would improve the system, but still wouldn’t allow families to have full access to their funds.
After the 2021 Childcare Census Survey found that 58 percent of respondents were not able to access center-based, family-based or school-based child-care programs. The mayor’s new office will be a one-stop shop for child-care services.
The governor’s budget and a bill by a Democratic lawmaker would stop the state from charging more than 500,000 Californians a monthly premium for their Medi-Cal health coverage.
With 44 percent of state residents living in a child-care desert, there aren’t enough options. Child care for two children uses 27 percent of a family’s income. The Tri-Share program aims to reduce those obstacles.
In Connecticut, a survey found 69 percent of respondents with children not current on rental payments reported being likely to face eviction in the next two months, compared to 10 percent of respondents without children.
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