Heard
Parents across California told us renewal calls were dropping mid-wait — and children were losing Medi-Cal over paperwork, not eligibility.
The Children's Partnership · Advancing child health equity since 1993
What would California look like if all 10 million of its children could grow up healthy?
We exist to answer that question — with families, not for them. The Children's Partnership pairs community experience with research and turns both into policy that changes children's lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, or place of birth.
Right now: defending Medi-Cal for every child and making children the deciding issue of the 2026 governor's race.
How a question becomes a law
Our approach is a loop, not a pipeline. It starts and ends with families.
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Listen
Communities know best the solutions to the challenges they face. We design and co-produce knowledge in partnership with them.
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Learn
We conduct research that values and incorporates community experience — evidence with a name and a neighborhood attached.
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Change
We advocate for policy rooted in racial equity that drives systemic change — in Sacramento and in Washington.
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Answer back
Policy only works if it works for families. We return to communities to check, correct, and improve implementation.
Priority · Healthy children
Why should keeping a child's health coverage take four hours on hold?
Studied
Our first-of-its-kind Medi-Cal Call Wait Times Survey Report (August 2024) documented long waits and high dropped-call rates in several counties.
Changed
With coalition partners we ran Keep Kids Covered, and the 2026–27 state budget preserved full-scope Medi-Cal and rejected cuts to the Mobile Crisis Benefit.
Priority · Strong, economically stable, connected families
What holds a family steady when rent, groceries, and the internet bill all compete?
Heard
Families told us health starts at home: a stable place to live, food on the table, and a connection to school, work, and telehealth.
Studied
Uplifting the Power of Culture (December 2024) documented five protective factors — from multilingualism to familismo — that policy should build on, not around.
Changed
Our 2026 agenda presses for CalFresh for every Californian regardless of age or immigration status, cash supports for families in crisis, and affordable broadband for all.
Priority · Safe & welcoming communities
Who does a parent trust when fear keeps them from the clinic?
Heard
In immigrant communities, families told us they skip care they're entitled to because they fear what enrolling might cost them later.
Studied
Our research on community health workers, promotoras, and doulas shows trusted messengers change what families feel safe using — Community Health Workers Advancing Child Health Equity (2024).
Changed
The 2026–27 budget carries $100 million for immigration legal services and $15 million for community health worker training — and A Child is a Child keeps schools and clinics safe spaces.
One voice, one finding
“Once I joined this program, it made me realize that I wasn't alone in my situation.”
— Student peer mentor, Antioch High School, Peer-to-Peer Youth Mental Health pilot
8 high schools. $10 million. One idea: young people are often the first ones other young people turn to.
The Year One findings from our DHCS-funded Peer-to-Peer High School Pilot (November 2025) show peer support destigmatizing mental health care from Oakland Tech to Antioch.
Read the Year One findings
The question in front of California right now
Who will the next governor put first? We think the answer should be four feet tall.
Choose Children 2026
With a statewide coalition, we're working to make young children the deciding issue of the governor's race — universal coverage, early learning, and community-rooted care.
Join Choose Children 20262026 Policy + Legislative Agenda
- Legal services for immigrant families facing detention
- Peer mental health support in more high schools
- Community health workers as a used, funded Medi-Cal benefit
- CalFresh for all, regardless of age or immigration status
What the 2026–27 budget already answered
- Full-scope Medi-Cal preserved for immigrant Californians through 2026–27
- $300M to hold down Covered California premiums
- $15M for community health worker training
- 22,770 new child care slots
From our July 2026 budget analysis.
Recent research & tools
Evidence built with communities, made to be used — in a hearing room or at a kitchen table.
- Nov 2025 Peer-to-Peer Youth Mental Health High School Pilot — Year One Findings Report
- Apr 2025 California's ACEs Aware Program & the Urgent Need for Trauma-Informed Care Brief
- Mar 2025 Help Protect AND Prepare Our Communities Toolkit
- Nov 2024 AB 665: Minor Consent for Mental Health Services Fact sheet
Latest news
July 6, 2026
State builds California budget for child health equity
“Advocates have long pushed for new revenue mechanisms. Leaders are beginning to listen.” — Mayra E. Alvarez, President
February 2026
California Children's Caucus grows to 40 legislators
A bipartisan, bicameral caucus now represents more than 8 million California children.
And what's your question?
If you're raising a child, teaching one, treating one, or writing laws for ten million of them — we work for you.