Children Now

EducationChildren Nows education program aims to ensure every child has access to high-quality early learning opportunities, a rigorous TK-12 education, including high-quality STEM, afterschool and summer programs, and access to affordable higher education. Through research and analysis, policy development, education and outreach, communications, convenings, and advocacy, we have worked to dismantle inequitable and racially discriminatory systems and achieved the following: protected $8.8 billion in funding for public schools during state budget negotiations; improved the distribution of LCFFs $300 million of equity multiplier funds that provide additional dollars to schools with high needs students; secured the inclusion of science on the California School Dashboard, the statewide school accountability system, benefiting 5.8 million students in the California public education system; protected the states commitment to expanding child care indefinitely; significantly improved school accountability via changes to the LCAP, requiring districts to focus on closing achievement gaps and evaluation the effectiveness of their actions of a three-year period; played a leadership role in protecting and continuing investments in our states teacher recruitment, retention, and preparation programs; successfully defended the Golden State Teacher Grant Program against proposed cuts; worked to create a paid educator apprenticeship pathway into teaching that addresses a key systemic barrier teachers face when entering the profession, which is lack of compensation while earning a teaching credential and the high cost of preparation programs; increased school district accountability for reclassifying English learners (EL) students in a timely fashion by increasing the performance level thresholds on the English Learner Progress Indicator, which measures the percentage of ELs who are making progress towards English language proficiency; provided leadership on the implementation of Californias C2C data system at every stage of its development, including budget advocacy to fund the system, shape its scope and scale, and guided C2C leadership and staff on data accessibility; advocated for the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Todays Youth Act, which strengthens state protections against any school district policy, rule, or regulation that would require the disclosure of information that relates to a students sexual orientation, gender identify, or gender expression without the students consent; worked to remove barriers faced by an increasing number of school districts seeking to enter into College and Career Access Pathway agreements to provide dual enrollment courses for high school students with community colleges; actively engaged with the workgroup convened by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to revise the Child Development Permit, the required credential for adults working with children in early learning and care settings, including California State Preschool; Children Now continued its leadership on TK, the landmark program we helped to establish to ensure universal access to preschool in California; worked to extend the home visiting program enrollment period to 36 months and extend the time that families can participate; and restored critical funding to the CalWORKS Home Visiting Program, when the Governor proposed a 45% across the board cut to the program.

Child WelfareChildren Nows child welfare program works to address the comprehensive health, education, and social service needs of children in the child welfare system. Through our research, policy development, education, and communications efforts, we have achieved the following: successfully protected the Family Urgent Response System (FURS), a 24/7 in-person helpline and response system for foster youth and families, which was proposed for elimination in the 2024-25 state budget despite the programs success in answering nearly 5,000 calls a year; successfully opposed an additional $178.5 million in proposed cuts to child welfare programs; helped prevent the elimination of the Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program and reductions to the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program, the Bringing Families Home Program, and Caregiver Approvals; supported coalition efforts to lift up multiple bills to protect and strengthen family economic support efforts, including creating HOPE accounts and supporting the GAINS Act for Parents Success; supported a coalition to oppose the Taxpayer and Government Accountability Act, which would have rolled back funding for programs serving children and families; provided resources and technical assistance to local education agencies with students in foster care performing at the lowest performance level as they developed goals to address the needs of their students and improve outcomes; monitored foster care rate reform to ensure: 1) children and caregivers are able to quickly and easily access strength-building and maintenance funds to support timely engagement in enrichment activities; 2) the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths tool is utilized appropriately, and all youth in foster care are assessed regularly and consistently; 3) additional training, support, and guidance is provided to caregivers working with kids with higher levels of need; and 4) critical supports such as respite care and school transportation are funded appropriately through the new rate structure and can be easily accessed as needs arise; coordinated feedback from more than 100 child welfare and health stakeholders on the BH-CONNECT proposal and provided feedback on the effective transition of more than 13,000 youth in foster care to new Medi-Cal managed care plans and the Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care transition to a standalone program; and closely monitored the implementation of the new Enhanced Care Management benefit for kids in foster care and elevated the need for Specialty Mental Health Services access data to ensure youth with child welfare involvement have access to services as intended.

Research and Data CollectionChildren Nows research program produces comprehensive reports, factsheets, infographics, and data-driven policy briefs on topics related to our program areas. We produce two marquee publications: 1) the California Childrens Report Card, which is the states most comprehensive report on childrens health, education, and well-being, and provides up-to-date data on the status of Californias children, highlights outcomes disparities resulting from decades of institutional racism, addresses recent policy developments, and delivers research and data-driven recommendations for improving childrens well-being, and 2) the California County Scorecard of Childrens Well-Being, which provides policymakers and a diverse range of community leaders and other stakeholders a unique and consumable analysis with county data over time, by race and ethnicity, and relative to other counties. This interactive online tool provides a user-friendly interface so viewers can understand counties unique strengths and vulnerabilities in meeting childrens needs, as well as serious inequities in child well-being. The organization also released several research briefs and data profiles, including: a brief, Big Feelings: Parents and Caregivers Need More Help to Support Children Under 5, that details parental reflections from interpersonal to systemic that affected their childs healthy brain development; a chartbook, Preventive Services for Kids in Medi-Cal, which gives a snapshot of childrens preventive services in Medi-Cal, which is the source of health coverage for over 5.5 million kids in California; a brief, Reimagining Respite Care for Children and Youth in Foster Care, which reviews existing research on respite care and its benefits to families.Our marquee publications and numerous reports and briefs are widely distributed to the public, including all state and local policymakers, the media, service providers, coalition partners, and civic organizations. These research publications, as well as the outreach efforts, briefings, and widespread media coverage generated by their release, help motivate key stakeholders and policymakers to make childrens issues a top priority, both locally and at the state level.