On behalf of the CA Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) backbone team (Center for Youth Wellness, Children Now and ACEs Connection), we want to give a hearty thank you to the advocates and champions across the state for advancing child-friendly policy and legislation in California in 2019. Here are some examples of what was accomplished this year:
More than 730 organizations signed on to the Family Urgent Response System (FURS) budget letter in support of a 24/7 statewide hotline and county mobile response system that will help ensure youth in foster care and caregivers can access immediate, trauma-informed supports during critical moments. As a result of this support, the 2019-20 state budget included $15 million and $30 million ongoing to establish FURS.
230 organizations urged the Governor to strengthen developmental screenings for babies and toddlers. As a result of this support, the Governor signed AB 1004: Developmental Screening Services into law. AB 1004: Developmental Screening Services, ensures that California’s babies and toddlers, birth to age three, receive the developmental screenings they are entitled to through the Medi-Cal EPSDT benefit. Timely screenings are necessary to support the healthy development of young children and ensure any developmental delays are identified early so that they can be addressed as early as possible.
125 organizations supported equitable health care for all California mothers. As a result of this support, Governor Newsom signed SB 464: The California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act into law, requiring hospitals and alternative birth centers or primary care clinics that provide perinatal care to implement an implicit bias program for all health care providers involved in perinatal care of patients. By providing medical providers with the tools necessary to better care for all mothers, this law will result in improved health care for children and their families, and save the lives of many California mothers.
More than 340 organizations – including childcare providers, teachers, parent groups, labor unions, First 5’s and the business community – signed on to a budget letter asking Governor Newsom and legislative leaders to allocate $1 billion over the next three years to increase the number of subsidized childcare slots. As a result, the 2019-20 state budget included $93.3 million in alternate payment vouchers (serving about 9,500 children) and $50 million in one-time funding for general childcare (serving about 3,100 children), as well as funding for an additional 10,000 preschool spaces.
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