The Children’s Movement: Thank You for Supporting California Kids

Thanks to your support, and the support of more than 1,000 other Pro-Kid organizations, the 2021-22 California State Budget takes long overdue steps to improve the health, education, and overall well-being of kids in our state.Below are key investments that were secured in the budget – all highlighted asks from the Children’s Movement advocacy letters, sent to the Governor and Legislature in January, March, and May of this year.

Child Care – in addition to committing to 200,000 new child care slots, the budget also takes important steps to increase and reform rates which are critical to ensuring that providers, who are mostly women of color, can earn a living wage for the care they provide.

TK-12 Education – as a result of higher levels of funding from state and federal sources, the State can restore the funding deferrals and make ongoing commitments to key education priorities including transitional kindergarten, expanded learning, more appropriate school staffing, additional educator professional development, and teacher recruitment and retention programs.

School-Based Mental Health – the budget includes $205 million for the Mental Health Student Services Act which will fund school-county partnerships throughout the state, allowing services and supports to reach students this fall as they return to school. Given the economic surplus of the State, the Legislature and Administration agreed to invest more than the initial request of $80.5 million.

Medi-Cal – the budget extends Medi-Cal coverage from 60 days to 12 months for postpartum individuals, and continues Proposition 56 Medi-Cal provider payments that support critical children’s health services and screenings.

Children in Foster Care – the budget includes a $37 million augmentation of the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children to connect caregivers and parenting youth in foster care to child care; $80 million to support children and youth in foster care (through a $1,500 pandemic stipend); $100 million in additional resources for prevention services that strengthen families, reduce racial inequities, and reduce entries into foster care; and approximately $200 million to address youth homelessness.

All of this incredible progress happened because of your commitment to putting kids first. Thank you for being a dedicated member of the Children’s Movement!