California’s kids face a host of unique challenges. The support the State provides is critical in overcoming them.
The 2026 Report Card grades the State on its performance supporting better outcomes for kids, from prenatal to age 26, across 30 wide-ranging issues affecting them. It then outlines Pro-Kid recommendations to California’s leaders on how we give kids their best chance to thrive.
California’s kids hold the future in their hands. But their present is in ours.
Credits & Acknowledgments
The 2026 California Children’s Report Card: A review of kids’ well-being & roadmap for the future reflects the collective effort of the entire organization.
Research, data analysis, and editorial leadership and support provided by: Kelly Hardy, Ted Lempert, Jurnee Louder, and Vincent Stewart.
Writing, policy analysis, and additional support provided by: Leticia Casillas-Sanchez, Tamira Daniely, Eileen Espejo, Lishaun Francis, Maya Kamath, Susanna Kniffen, Stacy Lee, Alex Matias, Rob Manwaring, Nicole Morales, Mike Odeh, Matt Roman, Jessica Sawko, and Danielle Wondra.
Design by: Nima Rahni and Jose Murillo.
Photos via iStock by artists: Cover photo by Rawpixel, page 1 photos by Antonio Diaz, Aziz Shamuratov, Deagreez, Jacob Wackerhausen, JohnnyGreig, and PeopleImages
Free icons by Streamline
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the following foundations for their support of our California research: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Hellman Foundation, Jonas Philanthropies, the May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust, the Morgan Charitable Foundation, the San Diego Foundation, the Silver Giving Foundation, the Skyline Foundation, Sunlight Giving, The California Endowment, and the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation.
Special thanks to all of Children Now’s generous individual supporters who help make our work possible.
Children Now acknowledges that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of our funders, sponsors, or donors.
We are grateful to the following for advice and counsel on the research contained within this report: Nishita Nair, California Budget & Policy Center; Michael Funk & Sascha Mowrey, California Department of Education; Sarah Aird, Californians for Pesticide Reform; Cindy Zheng, WestEd; and Andrea Gil, Youth Leadership Institute.
Special thanks to the following for data resources: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress; California Budget and Policy Center; California Child Welfare Indicators Project; California Commission on Teacher Credentialing; California Cradle-to-Career Data System; California Department of Education; California Department of Finance; California Department of Health Care Services; California Department of Pesticide Regulation; California Department of Public Health; California Department of Social Services; California Employment Development Department; California Legislative Analyst’s Office; California State Auditor; Covered California; EdSource; Feeding America; KFF; Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health; National Assessment for Educational Progress; National Center for Education Statistics; National Home Visiting Resource Center; National Institute for Early Education Research; National Survey of Children’s Health; Public Policy Institute of California; The RAPID Survey Project, Stanford Center on Early Childhood; Undaunted K12; UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, California Health Interview Survey; US Census Bureau; and WestEd.