Children Now developed a questionnaire for the candidates for the state legislature on a range of children’s issues from home visiting to early education to school funding to supports for foster youth. The candidate’s responses are available verbatim below. This questionnaire is for voter education purposes only. Children Now is non-partisan and does not endorse or oppose candidates for public office.
To find your Senate and Assembly District number, visit findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov
Senate
Question
Reply
California ranks among the top states in per capita expenditures on a number of government programs (i.e. corrections, law enforcement, general government), but is just near or below the national average on expenditures for kids’ programs, including education and Medi-Cal. What are your thoughts on this prioritization of expenditures and what, if any, changes would you make in this regard?
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Only 25% of working families have access to a licensed child care space. While the State has committed to expand subsidized child care slots by 200,000 over the next few years, many families will still lack affordable access to quality child care, especially families with infants and toddlers. What should the state government do to ensure that all families have access to high-quality affordable child care?
Reply
California ranks 49th among the 50 states in teacher-to-student ratio, 45th in school counselors, and 48th in school administrators. We also rank near the bottom in terms of school nurses, with approximately one nurse for every 2,400 students and no nurses at all in some smaller counties. What are your thoughts on these rankings, and what should be done in response?
Reply
California has the highest percentage of kids who are dual language learners, ages 0-5, (60%) and school-age English Learners (19%) in the country. How should the State support these students’ bilingual/multilingual potential? What are your thoughts on how educators in early education and TK-12 can be prepared to assist these students to meet their language development needs?
Reply
Over the past 45 years, state spending on higher education has dropped from 18% to 6% of the state budget. What is your position on funding for public higher education?
Reply
Over half (55%) of California’s kids are enrolled in Medi-Cal, but California performs near the bottom amongst all state Medicaid programs when it comes to children’s access to primary care physicians and important childhood screenings, especially for children of color. In addition, many California children lack access to oral health care, vision services, and mental health and substance abuse supports and services. What would you do to increase children’s timely access to these services?
Reply
Over the past two decades, mental health issues have grown from 9% to 19% as a percentage of all child hospitalizations; however, many families report extreme difficulty in securing mental health services to help their kids. What should be done to ensure that more children receive needed mental health supports and services?
Reply
By 11th grade, roughly half of California students have used alcohol, misused cold medicines or pain prescriptions, or used marijuana. California’s current piecemeal approach to youth substance use means that kids who need help are often punished by school suspension and expulsion policies, forcing many students to “fail first” before they get help. For example, State-funded treatment programs are not available in some counties and often difficult to access where they do exist. Those programs tend to be mainly for adults, lacking a unique focus on young people’s concerns and developmental needs. What do you think should be done to prevent young people from being harmed by substance use?
Reply
California assumes responsibility for abused and neglected children when we remove them from their homes, and the State is legally obligated to ensure that children and youth in foster care receive vital services and supports to meet their unique needs and find safety, stability and success. Yet a third of youth in foster care don’t receive timely medical exams and youth in foster care have the lowest high school graduation rates (61% compared to 87% overall). How would you strengthen the child welfare system?
Reply
While homelessness is a major issue in California, youth homelessness tends to get short shrift, even though 50% of the chronically homeless population had their first experience of homelessness before the age of 25. What would you do to sustain and increase funding specifically for housing programs for youth, and what other measures would you take to prioritize youth homelessness?
Reply
Assembly
Question
Reply
California ranks among the top states in per capita expenditures on a number of government programs (i.e. corrections, law enforcement, general government), but is just near or below the national average on expenditures for kids’ programs, including education and Medi-Cal. What are your thoughts on this prioritization of expenditures and what, if any, changes would you make in this regard?
Reply
Only 25% of working families have access to a licensed child care space. While the State has committed to expand subsidized child care slots by 200,000 over the next few years, many families will still lack affordable access to quality child care, especially families with infants and toddlers. What should the state government do to ensure that all families have access to high-quality affordable child care?
Reply
California ranks 49th among the 50 states in teacher-to-student ratio, 45th in school counselors, and 48th in school administrators. We also rank near the bottom in terms of school nurses, with approximately one nurse for every 2,400 students and no nurses at all in some smaller counties. What are your thoughts on these rankings, and what should be done in response?
Reply
California has the highest percentage of kids who are dual language learners, ages 0-5, (60%) and school-age English Learners (19%) in the country. How should the State support these students’ bilingual/multilingual potential? What are your thoughts on how educators in early education and TK-12 can be prepared to assist these students to meet their language development needs?
Reply
Over the past 45 years, state spending on higher education has dropped from 18% to 6% of the state budget. What is your position on funding for public higher education?
Reply
Over half (55%) of California’s kids are enrolled in Medi-Cal, but California performs near the bottom amongst all state Medicaid programs when it comes to children’s access to primary care physicians and important childhood screenings, especially for children of color. In addition, many California children lack access to oral health care, vision services, and mental health and substance abuse supports and services. What would you do to increase children’s timely access to these services?
Reply
Over the past two decades, mental health issues have grown from 9% to 19% as a percentage of all child hospitalizations; however, many families report extreme difficulty in securing mental health services to help their kids. What should be done to ensure that more children receive needed mental health supports and services?
Reply
By 11th grade, roughly half of California students have used alcohol, misused cold medicines or pain prescriptions, or used marijuana. California’s current piecemeal approach to youth substance use means that kids who need help are often punished by school suspension and expulsion policies, forcing many students to “fail first” before they get help. For example, State-funded treatment programs are not available in some counties and often difficult to access where they do exist. Those programs tend to be mainly for adults, lacking a unique focus on young people’s concerns and developmental needs. What do you think should be done to prevent young people from being harmed by substance use?
Reply
California assumes responsibility for abused and neglected children when we remove them from their homes, and the State is legally obligated to ensure that children and youth in foster care receive vital services and supports to meet their unique needs and find safety, stability and success. Yet a third of youth in foster care don’t receive timely medical exams and youth in foster care have the lowest high school graduation rates (61% compared to 87% overall). How would you strengthen the child welfare system?
Reply
While homelessness is a major issue in California, youth homelessness tends to get short shrift, even though 50% of the chronically homeless population had their first experience of homelessness before the age of 25. What would you do to sustain and increase funding specifically for housing programs for youth, and what other measures would you take to prioritize youth homelessness?
Reply
