We carry what families know into the rooms where laws are made.Community-informed research. Equity-rooted policy. Measurable change.
Ten million children live in California. When their families talk — about clinic wait times, rent, the school counselor who listened — we make sure Sacramento hears it, word for word.TCP advances child health equity for California's 10 million children by co-producing knowledge with communities, conducting research that incorporates lived experience, and advocating for systemic policy change.
Where policy is felt.Where policy outcomes are measured.
How a kitchen-table worry becomes a lawOur theory of change
A family speaksCommunity engagement
Parents and young people tell us what's actually happening — in their language, on their block.We invite, engage, and co-design solutions with communities, who know best the challenges they face.
We write it down, carefullyResearch & documentation
Stories become evidence nobody can wave away — surveys, briefs, findings with names and dates.We conduct and disseminate research that values and incorporates community experience.
We say it where it countsPolicy advocacy
Hearing rooms, budget talks, the governor's desk — we bring the kitchen table with us.We formulate and advocate for policy recommendations rooted in racial equity that drive systemic change.
We come back and checkImplementation accountability
Did it work at your table? If not, we go back to Sacramento.Successful implementation requires feedback from the communities each policy affects.
Three things every child needsIssue priorities
Under each promise, in small print, is how we say it in Sacramento. Both are true.Each priority is annotated with its community framing. Both registers carry the same commitments.
1
A doctor who sees you, a counselor who listensHealthy children
Keep every child covered by Medi-Cal, start care before birth, and make mental health help something kids can reach without shame.Protect Medi-Cal coverage and ensure reforms center families and youth; emphasize prenatal and early childhood development; advance community-defined healing for youth mental health.
In the Capitol: Medi-Cal protection · prenatal-to-three investment · community-defined mental health practicesAt the table: "My kid's coverage didn't lapse this year, and her school has a peer mentor program."
2
A steady home, food on the table, working internetStrong, economically stable, connected families
Health starts long before the clinic: stable housing, groceries you don't ration, broadband that reaches homework and telehealth.Improve access to stable, affordable housing; ensure broadband, devices, and digital literacy; provide financial supports including cash aid and tax credits for families in income instability.
In the Capitol: housing stability · digital equity · CalFresh for all, cash supports, tax creditsAt the table: "The Wi-Fi holds through a telehealth visit, and dinner isn't a math problem."
3
A neighborhood that feels safe to walk through the clinic doorSafe & welcoming communities
Trusted helpers from your own community — promotoras, doulas, community health workers — and schools that are safe for every child, whatever their family's status.Increase community power through CHWs and doulas; build well-resourced schools and early learning; create safe spaces for children in immigrant families; transform public systems to remove barriers.
In the Capitol: CHW Medi-Cal benefit utilization · school investment · immigrant family protectionsAt the table: "The promotora speaks my language, and no one asks my status at the school gate."
One voice, one evidence point
Heard at the table
“Once I joined this program, it made me realize that I wasn't alone in my situation.”
Student peer mentor, Antioch High School
Entered into the record
Peer-to-Peer Youth Mental Health High School Pilot, Year One Findings (Nov 2025): peer support in 8 California high schools, funded by a $10M DHCS investment, is destigmatizing mental health care.
Medi-Cal stays whole for immigrant Californians this yearFull-scope Medi-Cal preserved for immigrant eligibility categories through 2026–27; premium requirements delayed to July 2027
Health plan prices held down for a million families$300M Covered California premium backfill
More trusted helpers in more neighborhoods$15M for community health worker training
22,770 more places for little kids to learn safely22,770 new subsidized child care slots
July 2026 budget analysis · Mayra E. Alvarez, President: “Advocates have long pushed for new revenue mechanisms. Leaders are beginning to listen.”
Choose Children 2026. California picks a new governor next year. We're part of a statewide coalition asking every candidate: what will you do for the four-foot-tall Californians?Choose Children 2026. A statewide coalition campaign to make early childhood — universal coverage, early learning, community-rooted care — a decisive issue of the gubernatorial race.
