Updated September 25th, 2025
In our March and June newsletters, we highlighted Pro-Kid bills that reflect The Children’s Movement’s top priority of putting kids first in policymaking. We’re thrilled to report that many of these bills successfully passed the California Legislature and are now on the Governor’s desk.
Now is the time to act!! The Governor has until October 12 to sign or veto the Pro-Kid bills listed below. We encourage all members of The Children’s Movement to contact the Governor today, stressing the important impact these bills will have on children’s well-being and urging him to sign each one into law. Expand the dropdowns below for steps on how to make your voice heard!
Advancing Pro-Kid Bill Summaries
Simply call (916) 445-2841 and use our sample script below to explain why the Governor should sign these Pro-Kid bills.
SAMPLE SCRIPT:
Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I’m calling as a member of The Children’s Movement of California, a network of more than 6,000 organizations and individuals who believe kids need to be prioritized more in policymaking. I’m urging the Governor to sign the following Pro-Kid bills:
- Assembly Bills: 224, 607, 689, 898, 1043, and 1454
- Senate Bills: 62 and 271
These bills are essential to children’s health, safety, and success. Together, they strengthen families, improve literacy, expand access to health care and child care, protect kids online, and ensure foster youth have support in times of crisis. Please urge the Governor to put our kids first and sign these important bills into law. Thank you.
For each bill:
- Navigate to the Governor’s contact website.
- Select “An Active Bill” from the dropdown menu.
- Select the bill number for which you’re commenting – see the list below.
- Select “Leave a Message” > click next
- Select “Pro” > enter your subject and message using the sample message below as a guide
- Click next > enter your contact information > click submit.
SAMPLE MESSAGE:
Subject: Put kids first & sign AB 1043 into law!
As a member of The Children’s Movement of California, I’m writing to strongly urge the Governor to sign AB 1043 (Wicks) into law. This bill will require device manufacturers to verify a device user’s age and communicate that information to apps, websites, and online services that require age verification. AB 1043 will help create a safer online environment for young people by ensuring that protections designed for kids actually reach them. With children spending more time online than ever, we need common-sense safeguards to protect their health, safety, and development. Please prioritize the well-being of California’s children and sign AB 1043.
Advancing Pro-Kid Bill Summaries
AB 495 (Rodriguez, Celeste) Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025
This bill would strengthen legal protections for children at risk of family separation by creating streamlined, legally recognized caregiving arrangements to ensure children can stay with trusted caregivers in times of crisis. AB 495 would standardize the use of Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavits, establish a new Joint Guardianship option that preserves parental rights, and require schools and early learning programs to implement updated family preparedness policies. By safeguarding children from the devastating consequences of family separation, especially during this perilous time with immigration raids, this legislation would help prevent unnecessary trauma, strengthen family stability, and ensure schools and childcare providers are equipped to support families in times of crisis.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
AB 607 (Rodriguez, Celeste) CalWORKs: Home Visiting Program
California must expand voluntary, evidence-based home visiting programs statewide to ensure these highly effective services reach a larger share of eligible families. AB 607 will extend the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program at least 24 months and would extend the maximum age of the child at the time of enrollment to 36 months of age. The bill would also authorize a voluntary participant whose participation would otherwise be terminated because the participant no longer meets CalWORKs income, eligibility, or need criteria to continue through the duration of the home visiting program or for up to an additional 12 months, whichever is longer. Click here to read an in-depth blog post about this bill, authored by Children Now policy experts.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
This bill would ensure student parents are notified of supportive resources while they pursue higher education. This bill would require that when a student parent on a higher education campus is identified at certain campus locations – financial aid offices, child development centers, or a basic need centers – the student parent shall be notified about the childcare and financial aid resources available to them. Further, this bill would also require basic need centers to coordinate with local resource and referral agencies and their Local Child Care Planning and Development Council to ensure student parents have support to apply for subsidized childcare and to find childcare providers.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
This bill would require the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to revise standards for literacy specialist and administrator preparation programs to ensure alignment with evidence-based literacy practices and the state’s English Language Arts/English Language Development (ELA/ELD) Framework. It would also require the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt new instructional materials for grades K-8 in ELA/ELD that meet specified criteria and would establish related requirements for local adoptions of instructional materials.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
AB 224 (Bonta) and SB 62 (Menjivar) Health Care Coverage: Essential Health Benefits
These bills would update the benchmark that determines what benefits health insurance companies in California will be required to cover beginning in 2027. Right now, more than 20,000 children and youth in California use hearing aids, yet their health insurance does not cover them. This lack of coverage has resulted in a developmental emergency, as pediatric experts stress that early access to hearing aids is essential for language, learning, and social development.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
AB 1043 (Wicks) Age Verification Signals: Software Applications and Online Services
In an effort to create a safer online environment for youth, AB 1043 would require device manufacturers (ie: cell phones) to verify a device user’s age and then communicate the user’s age to application stores, applications, websites, and any other online services that require age verification for access.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
AB 689 (Rubio) Foster Youth: Disaster Aid Assistance
While the state is legally responsible for meeting the needs of children and youth in foster care, disaster-impacted children and youth rarely receive the additional funding needed to cover extra, unexpected costs. AB 689 would establish a statewide Child Welfare Disaster Response Fund that ensures resources are immediately available to disaster-impacted communities to mitigate the urgent needs of children and youth in foster care and their caregivers, including funding for transportation, interim housing, and replacement of essential belongings. Click here to read an in-depth blog post about this bill, authored by Children Now policy experts.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
AB 898 (Bryan) The Family Urgent Response System (FURS)
The Family Urgent Response System (FURS), consisting of a 24/7 statewide hotline and county mobile response teams, was designed to provide immediate trauma-informed support to young people with lived experience in foster care and caregivers during critical moments. AB 898 will help ensure counties: 1) are permitted to utilize their FURS teams to support families who are receiving family preservation and voluntary or court-ordered family maintenance to prevent entries into foster care; 2) are clear that they have the flexibility to dispatch FURS teams based on local needs and with the approval of children, youth, and caregivers without a state-level hotline call; and 3) revisit their local implementation plan every other year.
Status: Awaiting final signature or veto from the Governor.
Note that some of the Pro-Kid bills we highlighted in March and June did not make it out of the Legislature and will not be advancing at this time. These include:
- AB 249 (Ramos) Housing: Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program: youth-specific processes and coordinated entry systems
- AB 291 (Gipson) Teachers: credentialed educator apprenticeship programs
- AB 350 (Bonta) Health Care Coverage: Fluoride Treatments
- AB 403 (Ortega) Medi-Cal: community health worker services
- AB 916 (Lee) Safer Soap Act
- AB 970 (McKinnor) Child abuse and neglect reporting
- SB 363 (Wiener) Health care coverage: Independent medical review
- SB 438 (Cabaldon) School attendance: College and Career Access Pathways partnerships
- SB 492 (Menjivar) Youth Housing Bond Fund Act of 2025
