Assembly Human Services Committee

Good afternoon. I call this hearing of the Assembly Committee on Human Services to order. I would like to start today's hearing by welcoming Assemblymember Solace, who will be filling in for Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez, and Assemblymember Gibson, who will be filling in for Assemblymember Calderon. Once we have established a quorum, we have 14 measures on the agenda, four of which are on consent. Please note that we limit testimony to witnesses in support and to witnesses in opposition. Each witness has two minutes to testify. All additional witnesses will be limited to stating their name, organization if they represent one, and their position on the bill. I also want to note that we are accepting written testimony through the position letter portal on the committee's website. And lastly, I'd like to address disruptions during the hearing. Conduct that disrupts or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of this hearing is prohibited. If disruptive behavior occurs today, you will be removed from the hearing room by the Assembly's sergeants. Madam Secretary, if you could please call the roll to establish quorum.

Here.

Here.

Present.

Here.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and colleagues. I'm proud to be here to present AB 1655. The CalWORKs program is designed to protect children's basic needs when families are struggling financially. The program provides modest monthly cash assistance to help pay for food, rent, clothing, and other essentials. However, when a child is temporarily absent from the home for longer than 30 days, that support can be reduced or eliminated. There are some exceptions for this, of course, for example, if the child is in the hospital. However, for families who have their children kidnapped by ICE and held in a detention facility for longer than 30 days, they can lose the critical safety net that they need and deserve. This bill, AB 1655, protects struggling families when their children are kidnapped by ICE. I think often about the five-year-old Liam Ramos in Minnesota who was shipped to a facility down in Texas, became sick at that facility, and a court ordered that he be returned home. Had he been gone for more than 30 days in California, his family would have suffered during his absence. It's shameful that we have to think of these kinds of policies in this moment, but it's important that we do. With me to testify is Yesenia Robacho with Grace in Child Poverty, but she won't be testifying on her own behalf. She'll be testifying on our key witnesses' behalf who couldn't show up today or chose bravely not to show up today because ICE is terrorizing folks in our airports and instead submitted a written testimony. We also have Edgar Guerra with SEIU State Council.

Good afternoon, Chair and members. As Assemblymember Bryan shared, I will be reading the testimony of Janice Chavez. Due to her own security in ensuring the protection of her children, she decided not to come to the committee today. My name is Janice Chavez. I am a student parent at UCLA, a board member of the Bruin Parent Scholar Organization at UCLA, and a CalWORKs Association board member, and a proud mother of three beautiful children. I want to apologize for submitting my testimony in writing rather than appearing in person. I had originally planned to fly in and deliver the testimony in person, but due to the uncertainty surrounding ICE presence at airports, I made the difficult decision to prioritize the safety and well-being of myself and my family by remaining in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, thank you for the opportunity to speak in front of you today. About a month ago, my family received a call that changed everything. A loved one had been taken by immigration agents. There was no warning, no explanation, just chaos. In a desperate attempt to be recognized, my family member tossed his belongings to the ground and shouted for strangers to tell his family what had happened. By the time we understood where he was, he had already been transferred to the Adelanto detention facility. When he finally called, he didn't even say his name. He didn't want to burden us with the cost of the collect call. Instead, he simply said he had been detained and told us where to find his belongings he had left behind. That moment of not knowing, of piecing together what happened through fragments is something no family should have to experience. But the fear doesn't stop there. Under current CalWORKs rules, families have a short time period to report changes in their households, like a family member being removed or added. When a parent or family member is suddenly detained, that loss is treated as a change that can reduce the already minimal support a family receives or lose the benefits altogether. AB 1655 offers a simple but crucial fix. It recognizes that when a child or family member is detained in immigration custody, especially under circumstances involving misconduct, they should be treated as a temporary absence, just like a child in a hospital. Right now, families are being torn apart. Some are forced into impossible decisions, like leaving the country altogether. Just to say together, children are being pushed into instability, into poverty, and into futures they do not choose. We ask you to please hear our voices, to recognize the human impact behind these policies, and to support AB 1655. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Lee and members. Thank you as well to committee staff for their thoughtful analysis on AB 1655. My name is Edgar Guetta. Here on behalf of SEIU California, co-sponsor of AB 1655, representing more than 750,000 workers across the state, including county eligibility workers who administer the CalWORKs program every day. AB 1655 is a simple but important bill. When a child or a family member is unlawfully detained in federal immigration custody, current law can reduce the family's CalWORKs grant because that person is no longer counted in the assistance unit. This bill clarifies that unlawful detention is treated as a temporary absence so families do not lose the support they rely on to pay rent, buy food, and keep their household stable. From the perspective of the workers who run this program, this change makes sense. County eligibility staff are often the ones sitting across the table from the families in crisis. When a parent or child is suddenly detained, the last thing a worker should have to do is explain that the family's cash aid will also be cut. AB 1655 gives counties clear direction and allows workers to do their jobs in a way that protects children instead of pushing them deeper into poverty. This bill is also about stability for California families. Research shows that immigration arrests can result in tens of thousands of dollars in financial loss for a household, and losing CalWORKs on top of that only makes the situation worse. On behalf of SEIU California, including county workers who administer these programs and the working families who depend on them, we respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thanks.

Good afternoon. Rebecca Gonzalez with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in strong support of this bill.

Darby Kernan on behalf of In Child Poverty California, Courage California, and the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. Thank you.

Mr. Chair and members, Adam Kegelman on behalf of California LULAC and the California Charter Schools Association in support.

My name is Fernando Hernandez. I'm from Santa Clara County. I'm child care provider too. I support the AB 1655.

Hello, I'm Rocio Ibarra from Santa Clara County, CCPU member, and I support this bill as well.

Thank you. Do we have any primary witnesses in opposition to the bill? Please come forward. Do we have any members of the public in the room we wish to testify against in opposition to the bill? Please come up to the microphone. Seeing none, I'm going to bring it back to committee. First, I want to thank the author for bringing this important bill forward and also thank all the CCPU members from my home county of Santa Clara County for showing up here. And I'd also like to thank Yesenia for reading the statement from our witness who I think bravely, strategically did not go to the mess that the federal government is bringing in our airports. Just to clarify, Assemblymember O'Brien, are you accepting the committee amendments?

All right, great. Thank you. I'll turn it back to the committee members for questions and comments if there are any. Assemblyman Versace.

All right. Any questions, comments? Seeing none, I'm going to invite the author to close.

I will second it. Thank you so much for bringing this bill forward. I do think it's imperative that we do all we can for our California families, especially those who are facing all the inhumanities and cruelties of a carceral system. But in the ICE attention facility machine, it is all that at lightning speed and even worse. So it's vastly destabilizing, and this is one of those small steps, small but important steps we need to take to stabilize our families. I'm recommending an aye vote on this measure, and it has been properly moved and seconded. Madam Secretary, please call the roll on this bill.

Aye.

We'll leave that measure open for absent members. Next, we'll go to file item number two, AB 1746 by Assemblymember Davies. Assemblymember Davies, you may begin when you're ready. All right, whenever you're ready.

All right. Two minutes, please. Your witness.

Did you also have another witness with you? Oh, okay. All right. If there are any members of the public who should testify in support of this bill, please come forward to the microphone. Your name and organization.

All right, thank you. Now, do we have any primary witnesses in opposition to the bill? Please come forward. Any members of the public who wish to testify in opposition to the bill? Please come to the microphone. Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the committee for any questions or comments. All right. Just to clarify, Senator Davies, you're accepting the committee's amendments, correct?

Okay, great. Well, I'll invite the author to close then.

Thank you, Senator Davies. I appreciate your work to constantly uplift working families and support our safety net programs, even though the federal government continues to erode them. And I appreciate you trying to simplify the process here. There's a lot of paperwork issues that we just want to simplify and make irrelevant. The bill has been properly moved by Assemblymember Tongipa and seconded by Assemblymember Slotche. I'm recommending an aye vote. Madam Secretary, please call the roll on this bill.

That's four votes. We will keep it open for absent members. Thank you. All right, I see Assembly Member Sharp-Collins has joined us. File item number 3, AB 1755. You may present when you are ready, Assembly Member Sharp-Collins.

All right, thank you. Two minutes each to your witness, please.

Thank you.

All right, thank you very much. Now, do we have members of the public who wish to testify in support of the bill? Please come up to the microphone.

Khoisei Turn with the Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization, proud co-sponsor and support.

Binduma Kamala, Policy Manager with the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter, in strong support.

Thank you. Now, do we have any primary witnesses in opposition to the bill? Please come forward. Any members of the public who wish to testify in opposition to the bill, please come forward to the microphone. Seeing and hearing none, I will bring it back to the committee for questions and comments. Yes, you're recognized.

All right. Any other questions or comments? Well, I couldn't put it better than it's something to talk about, but it is true. We do live in the richest state and the richest country in the world and the history of the world. And yet more people are working longer hours than they ever have. In fact, productivity has never been higher than it is in the history of mankind. And yet the wages and income of workers has gone down in comparison. So it is no surprise that people work longer hours and more jobs just to survive, right? But really, we want to make sure that people are incentivized and have the right systems in place to climb up in the socioeconomic ladder. And so this is an important bill. I would love to join as a joint author again with you, as I did in the last bill last year, and hopefully this time we'll get all the way and get the signature. So I'll invite the author to close now.

All right. Thank you. The bill was moved by Senator Tangiba, seconded by Senator Slotche. I'm recommending an aye vote. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Aye.

4-0. That bill is out, but we will leave the roll open for absent members. All right. Let's see if there are any authors here. If not, Assemblymember Szilagyi, you are permitted to present your bill if you are ready. Since we are still waiting for authors, so if you're an author that wants to present at Human Services, we'll be looking for more authors after file item number nine, which is AB 2072 by Assemblymember Szilagyi. And you may begin when you're ready.

Two minutes, your witness, please.

All right, thank you. Now, do we have members of the public who I should testify in support of the bill? Please come up to the microphone.

Rebecca Gonzalez with the Western Center on Law and Poverty. We do not have a position on the bill, and we want to thank the author's office for working with us on amendments to clarify that SNAP is a mandatory payment program. Thank you.

Just had a couple quick questions for the author. How come this is brought just as a general legislation instead of a budget bill?

So I see like this. I mean, I completely understand the intent of the bill. And I do think that the state of California should have quite a bit of that responsibility when it comes to it. I just believe that it really should be like in the under the budget trailer bill through that, especially when it comes to the appropriation side. So I'm more than likely going to just, yeah. And we, yeah.

So we're on both sides. Yeah.

Do you know the number of that bill for the budget?

Yeah. Well, again, the, uh, I know this may surprise a lot of people, but as I've spoken to the federal administration on, um, shifts and changes that are happening, you know, trying to understand that this is a dynamic world that we're going through right now. You know, I've seen that, again, this is something that I see falls on the responsibility of what, you know, the state should really start to look at. And so I definitely see the intent, again, that the author is really presenting itself to us to make sure that we're making sure that some of the families that are most vulnerable have some of those resources. So I appreciate you bringing it. Thank you. Thank you.

Sure. Just thank you again for the priority. I think the committee staff for their engagement. I think there's no secret here that obviously not only did the consumer and so many Californians were impacted, but also when you have business community also and retailers concerned about how they get to deliver these food importance to our communities. I think it's a win-win that both the consumer and the folks that are providing the food concerned so we were happy to join forces and ensure that Californians don't suffer this consequences again during a shutdown regardless of what party and regardless of who does it at the end of the day Californians are you know are in need of these resources thank you thank you for an eye vote yes and I would like to thank the author bring this bill forward I think it's savvy to create a rainy day fund almost a savings account in case that what we're what

File item 9, AB 2072. The motion is due pass to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Lee? Aye. Lee, aye. Castillo? Aye. Castillo, aye. Gibson? Aye. El Horry? Jackson? Aye. Solace?

Solace, aye. Tongapaw? Not voting. Tongapaw, not voting.

I was paying attention on you.

AB 2429, whenever you're ready. Good afternoon, Chair and members. Thank you for allowing me to present to AB 2429 today. I want to start by accepting the committee's amendments, and I want to thank the committee staff for working with my office on this measure. AB 2429 strengthens and modernizes the early childhood mental health consultation model in California's early learning programs. Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, or ECMHC, is one of the most effective tools we have available to support children's social emotional development and reduce preschool expulsions. It works by pairing trained consultants with educators to build healthier classrooms environments, and respond proactively to behavioral challenges. Research continues to show that the best outcomes happen when consultation is consistent, relationship-based, and tailored to the needs of each classroom. However, feedback from providers and consultants across the state indicate that some of these requirements are creating barriers and disincentivizing childcare programs from implementing the model. These requirements can create unnecessary administrative burdens, limit flexibility, and ultimately discourage programs from participating. When programs opt out, children and educators lose access to critical support. AB 2429 makes targeted updates to improve access and effectiveness while maintaining accountability. Specifically, the bill one makes the ACES screener for every child in a classroom receiving consultation optional instead of required. This preserves access to the tool for programs who have the capacity to administer it while maintaining flexibility for those that do not. Reduces required classroom observation from two times per year to once per year, allowing consultants and educators to determine what is most appropriate for the study. And most importantly, this bill allows consultants and educators to co-develop flexible, customized plans that reflect the unique needs of each classroom. AB 2429 ensures that a proven evidence-based model can reach more children and families in a way that is flexible, effective, and sustainable. Thank you.

Yes. Good afternoon, Chair and committee members. My name is Maifa Reneau. I'm a former preschool and special education teacher and VP of Advocacy and Policy with Cadango. As a child care and preschool program, we proudly sponsor and strongly urge an aye vote for AB 2429. This critical legislation strengthens access to early childhood mental health consultation services across California state preschools, general childcare and family childcare home education networks. Early childhood mental health consultation, as mentioned, is a prevention, and relationship-based approach that supports the adults in fostering children's healthy and social-emotional development and effectively responds to their needs. It's an evidence-based service to reduce expulsions in preschool and childcare, and previous legislation has established an adjustment factor where programs can utilize to fund its implementation and associated requirements to adhere to its quality. Now, we know that research tells us that a child's brain develops rapidly from zero to five, and exposure to trauma, chronic stress, or unaddressed behavioral issues during this period can have lifelong consequences. affecting their ability to learn, form relationships, and thrive. Early childhood mental health consultation gives adults the support and tools they need to create an optimal environment for children to grow. AB 2429 responds to important feedback from the field and makes two adjustments to their requirements. As mentioned, it changes the mandate of utilizing the adverse childhood experiences screener for adults from required to optional. And second, it reduces the required classroom observations from twice per program year to once per program year. With these changes, more state preschool general child care and family child care home education networks will be able to utilize the adjustment factor to implement early childhood mental health consultation. This is a common-sense, evidence-based solution prioritizing children's mental wellness and supporting their caregivers. We respectfully request an aye vote so more teachers, children, and families benefit from early childhood mental health consultation. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair and esteemed members of the committee. My name is Celeste Farmer, and I'm the Director of Mental Health at Codango. I've been a licensed marriage and family therapist in California since 2015, and I've been both a mental health consultant as well as a supervisor and leader of mental health consultation programs. Increasing providers' ability to access and utilize mental health consultation services has the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of so many children. In my experience, early childhood mental health consultation builds adults' confidence and competence to meet social emotional needs of children and create a positive social emotional climate for entire preschools and early learning centers and home education networks. In order to have this impact, what I have found most critical to have in place is attunement to the individualized needs of child care programs, teachers, and children and families. The changes that AB 2429 proposes supports high quality early learning and early childhood mental health consultation by supporting that attunement and individualized focus by allowing consultants who work with many classrooms and face many time constraints to have more flexibility in the activities that they implement for each classroom based on the express needs of that age group of children, teachers, and families. Additionally, by making the adverse childhood experiences screener optional, consultants can choose whether It can choose when it makes sense to utilize the tool based on the consultant and parent bandwidth. whether the screener is already conducted in other settings like well-child pediatric visits, as well as how conducive it is in a situation to relationally build a positive strengths-based relationship with families. This critical piece of legislation, this is a critical piece of legislation that will strengthen access to early childhood mental health consultation services in California, state preschool, general childcare, and family childcare home education networks. Thank you so much for your time. And I strongly encourage you to vote aye on AB 2429 for healthy children, teachers, families. Thank you.

Bindu Makamala on behalf of the National Association of Social Workers, California chapter here in support.

Thank you. Just respectfully ask for an aye vote.

File item 12, AB 2429. The motion is due pass as amended to the Assembly Education Committee. Lee?

Lee, aye. Castillo? Aye. Castillo, aye. Gibson? Aye. El Juarez? Jackson? Aye. Solace? Aye. Solace, aye. Tongapaw? Aye. Tongapaw, aye.

Thank you.

I will begin with AB 1969.

Thank you, Chair and members. I would like to begin by accepting the committee amendments and thanking committee staff for their thoughtful and thorough analysis. I'm pleased to present AB 1969, the It Takes a Village Act of 2026. We often say it takes a village to raise a child, but too often our systems are not structured to function like one. If we are serious about improving outcomes for children and families, especially in economically disadvantaged communities, we must ensure access to coordinated supports from before birth through college and career. This work is deeply personal to me. It has been my life's work, in fact. I've seen firsthand how a place-based cradle to career approach can change the trajectory of a child's life. from my own life, for sure, but certainly as early as 21, and as recently as being able to serve as the CEO of Oakland Promise, where we work to improve educational and economic outcomes for students experiencing poverty. In that role, I saw both the gaps in our system and the transformative impact of aligning services across sectors to meet families where they are. California invests billions of dollars annually in children, families, and economic development programs, yet these investments remain fragmented, siloed, and... unevenly targeted, particularly in neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of child poverty. We have made significant progress launching CalKids children's savings accounts, investing in community schools, implementing CalAIM community supports to address upstream health and social needs, expanding the expanded learning opportunities program, advancing a career technical education master plan, and making historic investments in early learning. Each of these efforts is critical, but they are more and most powerful when they are aligned and coordinated around the needs of children and families and can transition seamlessly throughout a changing administration. This is exactly why AB 1969 has been presented and is designed to do. This bill establishes a grant program to support place-based partnerships that coordinate services from early childhood through college and career. Over the past decade, Promise Neighborhoods and similar Cradle to Career initiatives have shown that this approach works. These partnerships align education, health, housing, and economic supports, and the results are clear. Improved access to care, stronger literacy outcomes, and increased college and career readiness. AB 1969 builds on that success by expanding and sustaining these efforts statewide. By investing in coordinated community-driven solutions, this bill strengthens California's ability to reduce poverty, close opportunity gaps, and support children and families at every stage in their life. Because when we invest in the systems that surround a child, we invest in their future and the future of our state. With me today to testify is Tony Amanseca, Executive Director of Bright Futures Educational Partnership serving Monterey County, and Jillian Spindle, Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer at the Mission Economic Development Agency in San Francisco.

I CAN START. GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR AND MEMBERS. MY NAME IS TONYA, AND I PROUDLY SERVE AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR BRIGHT FUTURES EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP ANCHORED AT HARTNOW COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN MONTEREY COUNTY. I'M HERE TODAY IN STRONG SUPPORT OF AB 1969. BRIGHT FUTURES SERVES AS A BACKBONE FOR OUR COUNTY'S CRADLE TO CAREER SYSTEM. We bring together K-12 education, higher education, community organizations, local partners to ensure that every young person has a pathway to success. Monterey County is home to one of the highest percentage of students entering schools as English learners in California, if not the nation. Our students are incredibly capable, multilingual, and resilient, but too often they must navigate systems that were not designed with them in mind. That's where Bright Futures steps in. We don't work in isolation. We align partners, elevate community voice, and turn collaboration into action. One example of this is our work with Cal Kids. Through coordinated outreach and deep community trust building, Monterey County now ranks second in the state for the percentage of Cal Kids accounts claimed, with over 11.7 million secured in over 21,000 accounts. That didn't happen by chance. It happened because of intentional partnerships, local leadership, and consistent engagement with families. And yet, despite these outcomes, Bright Futures currently operates without dedicated state or federal funding. We have sustained this work through private donations, grants, because we believe that what's possible for our students and what is needed for our community. But to scale and sustain this impact, we need investment. AB 1969 represents an opportunity to support models like Bright Futures, models that are already demonstrating results, already building trust, and already changing outcomes for young people. With the right support, we can deepen this work, reach more families, and ensure that every student, especially those historically underserved, has access to these opportunities. I respectfully urge your support for AB 1969. Thank you for what you do for our children here in California.

Good afternoon, Chair and members. I'm Jillian Spindle, the Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer at the Mission Economic Development Agency in San Francisco's Mission District. AB 1969 recognizes that no single school, nonprofit, or city can end poverty alone. Since 2012, META has acted as the backbone for the Mission Promise neighborhood, coordinating a network of nonprofits, the San Francisco Unified School District, and city agencies. We move beyond education to provide holistic wraparound support that addresses immediate needs and puts families on a path to economic mobility. By aligning sectors under a single data-driven approach, we ensure every family has the stability they need to thrive from prenatal to career. This coordination creates results that go far beyond the classroom. For example, when we realized that displacement was the primary threat to our student success, we integrated a housing and financial continuum into our school sites. Our coaches work in schools to help parents with rental relief, tax preparation, housing, and job placement. Because of this coordination, we increased Latino representation in affordable housing applications from three to 30%. In the past decade, we've helped 2,100 households secure stable homes. We're closing the gap on early learning, adding 200 slots and increasing care readiness by 10%. And we're connecting college readiness with financial education, tax, and FAFSA prep to steadily increase the number of students enrolling in college. We are trusted community networks for the state's most vulnerable families. During the pandemic, the city relied on our existing infrastructure to reach families with emergency relief. Today, as we face economic and political uncertainty, these networks are a lifeline. We can both respond to today's emergency while building community conditions for the next generation. Last year, in partnership with RTI International, we completed an evaluation showing that California Promise Neighborhoods are a good investment, with a $4 return for every $1 invested. We have the data, we have the trust, and we have the model. For this reason, I respectfully request your support of AB 1969.

Hello, I'm Michael Williams, representing the Child Abuse Prevention Center in Sacramento, as well as the California Family Resource Association and both organizations' support.

Hello, Jessica Rubio-Rincon, I'm here on behalf of Mission Promise Neighborhood and all of the children that we serve there, and then also on the California Promise Neighborhood Coalition. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Darby Kernan on behalf of Four Seas of Alameda County, First Five of Alameda County, Eden Area Communities Collaborative, and the Mission Economic Development Agency. Thank you.

Josh Wright with the California Association of Food Banks in support.

Thank you so much, Chair. This is actually the sixth time this legislation has been proposed, earliest in 2014, I think. What we have right now is a California that doesn't want to be a California of two tails. We want to be able to ensure that every single child from wherever they are, in whatever capacity that they need our community, our supports, our agencies, federal, state, county, and city, to be fully aligned to be able to support their growth and development. This has been life's passion of mine. I know that when we wrap our arms around children fully, it ends up that they are able to be invested in fully and know that we can take care of them, which is all that we want to be able to do in this beautiful state we call California. With that, I respectfully request your aye vote.

File item six, AB-1969. The motion is due pass as amended to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Lee?

Lee, aye. Castillo? No. Castillo, no. Gibson? Aye. El Juarez? Aye. El Juarez, aye. Jackson? Aye. Solache? Aye. Solache, aye. Tongapah? Aye.

Thank you. Good afternoon again, committee members and chair. I want to start by thanking the chair and committee for working with my office on this piece of legislation. AB 2092 establishes the California Department of Social Services, CDSS, as the lead agency with the statutory authority to manage the Early Childhood Integrated Data System, or ECIDS. This bill also creates an interagency task force to oversee data governance, ensuring that California can integrate siloed information from various state agencies serving children from birth to age five. California has built the foundation to begin implementing estate ESIDs. The CDSS and California Department of Education, both of which collect considerable zero to five data, identified ESIDs as a priority and planned an implementation. The state has been able to do a few things. First, produce a knowledge brief. Second, conduct a pilot program led by the Santa Clara Office of Education to share learnings and best practices at the local level. And finally, to establish an IT infrastructure for ECIDS. However... Many agencies collect early childhood data, including the CDSS, CDE, and the California Health and Human Services Agency. Although the IT infrastructure for ECIDS exists, no one agency has the legal authority to access and integrate early childhood data across all agencies serving children ages 0 to 5. As such, critical early childhood data often lives within only one state agency's data system, and if the same data point is collected across agencies, it might be defined differently. This means that information regarding child participation in early learning and care is currently siloed or incomplete, making it impossible to track important outcomes for children across various early childhood programs. Without integrated data, the state cannot identify childcare deserts or understand outcomes for children ages zero to five, particularly when disaggregated by race and income. AB 2092 addresses this by giving the CDSS statutory authority to integrate early childhood data from early childhood agencies. AB 2092 also takes proactive measures to protect that data that is collected. The bill includes recommendations with the Assembly Privacy Committee to protect children's data, and we will be working with Privacy Committee to further strengthen this piece of the bill. Here to testify and support are two early childhood experts, Missy Coffey, who is Executive Director of the EC Data Lab, and a leading national and state specialist on early childhood data systems, and Mario Snow, who is senior policy associate on early childhood education at Californians Together.

Good afternoon, Chair and committee members. My name is Mario Snow. I'm the Senior Policy Associate for Californians Together, focusing on ECE. Thank you to Assemblymember Bonta for authoring this bill. It's vital to our data-driven planning. I began working in the ECE data system space back in 2002 as a subcontractor to First 5 California charged with developing a system to collect identifiable and aggregate data from each of the California's 58 counties. Having a statewide early childhood integrated data system, or ESIDS, for early learning and care is long overdue. Over the last couple decades, entities in California have spent many millions of dollars creating Band-Aid data systems that get them from point A to point B for a particular initiative, while statewide systems have not advanced. These efforts are labor-intensive and expensive. Since California has separate systems housing these data, in order to have a robust data set, linkages need to be made between disparate data systems that collect and define data differently. Then, after the initiative is over, often the system and its data just fade away. But within ECIDS, those data would continue to be available for others to use and build upon. Having a statewide system that tracks and reports key metrics can reduce costly local costs can reduce costs locally and shift those funds to direct services. For policymakers, some questions this data system could answer are, what is the correlation between third grade test scores and high quality preschool attendance? Did English learners who attended two years of dual language immersion preschool reclassify at an earlier age than those students that did not attend this type of program? How much sooner? Is there a difference in high school graduation rates between children who attend preschool compared to children who do not attend preschool? To what extent does early learning participation accelerate LP growth in the early grades? And then what disparities exist in access to high-quality early learning programs across regions, income levels, and language groups? Thank you for your time.

Sarabatches with children now in support. McLean Rosansky with the Alameda County Office of Education in support.

Thank you. Do we have any primary witnesses in opposition? Do we have any members of the public in the hearing room to testify in opposition? And are there any questions from committee members? Thank you for bringing this bill forward. I recommend an aye vote, or the chair does. And we'd like to invite the author to close.

So I have a motion and a second on AB 2092. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

That bill is on call. We'll leave the roll open for absent members. Next, we're on file number 11, AB 2278, Avila Farias. Assemblymember, please present your bill.

Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Tracy Murray and I am the Contra Costa County Director of Aging and Adult Services. Thank you for your consideration of AB 2278, which provides support for counties administering the In-Home Supportive Services IHSS program. The IHSS program provides in-home care to eligible aged, blind, or disabled community residents who need assistance in order to stay safely in their homes. Regulations require that every IHSS recipient initial application for services be determined within 90 days. And after a case is granted, each recipient must receive an annual reassessment. In Contra Costa County, we have 17,841 IHSS recipients and only 50 social workers, which equates to a caseload of 356 recipients per social worker. Effective July 1st, 2025, counties are assessed a penalty for each IHSS community first choice option or CIFCO case that is late on its annual reassessment. In July 2025, Contra Costa County had 3,273 overdue cases. In order to reduce the number of overdue cases and penalties, Contra Costa County has contracted with a temporary staffing agency to assist with reassessments. The county has spent $235,000 on temporary agency costs and 1.8 million in penalties from July through February. Although Contra Costa County has made in reducing the number of overdue reassessments to a current count of 1,144, the consequence has been that new applications for services are not determined on a timely basis. The percent of applications determined within 90 days has dropped from 87% in July 2025 to 44% in February 2026. The CIFCO penalties are adversely impacting the county's ability to serve community members. Therefore, we support legislation that provides an opportunity to test how innovative technologies will benefit counties and the vulnerable IHSS consumers that we serve.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members. I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Second.

File item 11, AB 2278. The motion is due pass as amended to the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee. Lee Castillo. Gibson?

Gibson, aye. Elhuari? Aye. Elhuari, aye. Jackson? Aye. Solache? Aye. Solache, aye. Tongabah?

Second.

Items on the consent calendar, file item 4, AB 1824, Ramos. File item 5, AB 1846, Ramos. Stephanie file item 7 AB 1 9 8 1 AG we are curry with urgency amendments file item 8 AB 2 0 0 6 Michelle Rodriguez Lee Castillo El Juarez El Juarez I Gibson Gibson I Jackson Solache Solache I tongue upon I

File item one, AB 1655, the current vote is two to zero. Gibson?

Gibson, aye. Alhuari? Aye. Alhuari, aye. Jackson? Current vote, four to zero. File item two, AB 1746, the current vote is four to zero. Gibson? Aye. Gibson, aye. Alhuari? Aye. Alhuari, aye. Jackson? Current vote is six to zero. File item three, AB 1755. The current vote is four to zero. Gibson? Aye. Gibson, aye. Elwhare? Aye. Elwhare, aye. Jackson? Current vote, six to zero. File item six, AB 1969. Current vote is three to one. Gibson?

Gibson, aye. Jackson? Tongopah? Current vote, four to one. File item nine, AB 2072. Current vote is three to zero. Gibson? Aye. Gibson, aye. Elwhare? Aye. Elwhare, aye. Jackson? Current vote, five to zero. File item 12, AB 2429. Current vote is 4-0. Gibson? Aye. Gibson, aye. Elhuari? Aye. Elhuari, aye. Jackson? Current vote 6-0.

Yes, sir.

Yes. Oh, sorry. I said a different one.

Yes, sir.

Sorry about that. Thank you, Honorable Chair and members. AB 2567 is a simple bill that helps families in crisis get emergency relief from CalWORKs faster. More than 650,000 families receive cash aid and services through CalWORKs, and California processes about 30,000 to 40,000 applications each month. For many of these families, a crisis means an eviction notice, no food in the house, a utility shutoff, or even homelessness. Emergency help in those moments should be quick and accessible. CalWORKs has emergency support for these situations through immediate needs and temporary homeless assistance. But under current law, families may first be required to apply for other benefits, including unemployment, social security, veterans benefits, or state disability insurance before emergency aid can be issued. For families in crisis, that extra hurdle means finding internet access, a phone or computer, work history, bank information, and identification before they're eligible for immediate assistance. AB 2567 removes that barrier so counties can determine a parent eligibility for emergency CalWORKs benefits without first requiring families to apply for all unconditionally available income. This bill does not eliminate existing safeguards. Families must still be apparently eligible for CalWORKs, and they must still apply for and accept all available income before final approval and ongoing aid. In short, AB2567 will ensure that immediate needs and temporary homeless assistance serve as a safety net for people in crisis. I am pleased to have Andrew Shane with the County Welfare Directors Association here with me today to speak in support of the measure. And on behalf of Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez, I'd like to accept the committee's amendments. Thank you, Chair and members. Oh, just kidding.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Illawarri, and our thanks to Senator Rodriguez. I'll be brief. It was already outlined very well. As families are coming into the CalWORKs program, they are experiencing crisis. When we're talking about apparent eligibility and these upfront programs, we're talking about immediate need of $200 or less and homeless assistance that's either in the form of a voucher if the family is unhoused or critical assistance permanent housing supports if the family is at risk of eviction, such as arrears on their rents or deposits, right, trying to prevent family homelessness. So as has been mentioned, AB 2567 removes that barrier while maintaining the unconditionally available income requirement as part of the full CalWORKs grant. So maintaining that program integrity for the full grant, child care, and other permanent supports. So with that, I urge your aye vote. Thank you.

Rebecca Gonzalez with the Western Center on Law and Poverty in support.

Kelly Brooks on behalf of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors in support.

On behalf of Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez, my Assembly bestie, thank you, Chair and members. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

File item 14, AB 2567. The motion is due pass as amended to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Lee?

Lee, aye. Castillo?

Castillo, aye. Gibson? Aye. Gibson, aye. Alhuari? Aye. Alhuari, aye. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Solanche? Aye. Solanche, aye. Tongapaw? Aye.

This is a mandated reporting bill. Wow, I got set up. Okay, I see what's going on around here. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. It is my honor to present AB 2441 on behalf of Assemblymember Rodriguez. This is the Community Supporting Innovation Pilot Program. AB 2441 is a critical evidence-based step forward in providing prevention services for families in need of education, support, and basic needs. The facts are clear. Black and Native American children account for 50% of child welfare investigations, and Black and Native American and Latino families are more likely to have reports substantiated and experience child removal. The California Child Welfare Council established the Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting Task Force. The task force recommends the incorporation of a community pathway for mandated reporters. The Community Supporting Innovation Pilot Program creates a prevention-focused pathway for families facing poverty or resources challenges, complementing, not replacing, the child welfare system. Specifically, AB 2441 directs the State Office of Child Abuse Prevention to administer and evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program. This innovative initiative will demonstrate the effectiveness of community-based organizations, including family resource centers and servicing as resource and referral avenues for families with needs who are not at substantial risk of serious harm. Important safeguards are built into the bill to ensure the credibility of the community pathway. These include requiring a statement of support from the County Child Welfare Agency in each county in which the organization operates, securing the commitment of at least one partnering school district, hospital, clinic, or law enforcement agency that will refer potentially eligible families to the community-based organization and ensuring all participating organizations comply with OCAP's program requirements. Speaking in support of AB 2441 today is Janae Eustace, Executive Director of the Child Abuse Prevention Center, and Danielle Lawrence, Executive Director of the Mutual Assistance Network, a Sacramento-based FRC. All right. Thank you. Two minutes each, please.

Good afternoon, chair and committee members. My name is Danielle Lawrence, and I am the proud leader of two family resource centers here in Sacramento County. Every day we serve families who are doing everything they can to stay stable, but they need support navigating systems that were not designed for them. Families don't come to us with a child welfare label often. Sometimes they do. However, most of our families come in to our doors because they need rent, because they need food, child care. someone to trust to help them navigate the systems they're struggling with within schools or all of the many systems such as CPS, Department of Human Assistance, anything that is coming for services and provision. Our families are getting lost in the navigation and we lean in as family resource centers to ensure that they do not get lost in the systems and or get lost We are. Why this is important, what we do at the Family Resource Center is de-escalate crises. They come to us during crises. First thing we do is before we make a report, we take an established picture of where they are and we de-escalate. We're meeting them where they are. We help them coordinate. Family Resource Centers coordinate across systems. Family Resource Centers provide concrete supports. We do that very well. And it was evidenced during the pandemic when everything else shut down, but family resource centers remained open and served. This is daily and this is consistent. It's trusted and we are already in community and we are already established as a community. system of care across California. There is a gap though. Without this pilot, there's no consistent funding or structure across the counties. There's no shared way to track our outcomes and the data. It matters. There's no sustainable funding for the level of coordination required. So start stops is never sustainable for the success of our neighborhoods that we serve. So the work depends on local capacity instead of statewide commitment, and that's why we are here. So this pilot matters. This pilot allows us to do the work we're already doing, but with alignment and sustainability across California. It allows us to participate in a shared system of learning and accountability. And then it allows us to ensure families receive the same level of support no matter where they live. This is about catching families before they fall deeper into crisis. And it's about trusting community-based organizations like us to do what we've already proven we can do well. So in closing, we don't need to create a new system. We do need to invest in the one that families are already using and trust. This pilot helps us do that better together and across California. Families are already coming to us. This pilot ensures we can meet them with the consistency they deserve. We urge your support by giving your aye vote.

Bindu Mukamla with the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter, in support of this bill.

Lino Hsu with Mutual Assistance Network and a licensed clinical social worker, and I'm in support of this bill.

Saravachis with Children Now in support.

Mackenzie Richardson with Thriving Families California Foundation in support.

Good afternoon. Latanya Mosley with Mutual Assistance Network in strong support.

Adam Kegelman on behalf of the California Charter Schools Association in support. All right.

Thank you very much, Assemblyman. As the assembly representative to the California Child Welfare Council, this is one of the top priorities of the council. The idea being is that we have too many black and Native American families being caught up in this system only after a traumatizing investigation being found that there was nothing that existed in the first place. And the best way to do that is to create a proof of concept. I had a bill two years ago, a year ago, I don't know. I don't wanna remember that process. I got some scars from that process. But one thing was for sure, we know through research that the best thing to do is to push vulnerable families away from the system and into the support of community-based organizations. High quality, consistent community-based organization to provide them with whatever their real needs are. And many times it's poverty issues. Others, it could be mental health issues, so they need more supports. But depending on what part of the state you're from depends on your level of trust that the community has the infrastructure necessary to be able to provide consistent, predictable, and... high quality services to really meet their needs so that when someone calls, we have, we know that that family is going to be served as opposed to, uh, them just being lost in the cracks. And so it's time for us to really develop the proof of concept, the best practice that now we can build off of so that we can be more insured and our colleagues here in the legislature can be more assured that what we're doing is the best thing to be done in a healthy way so that they can be on a pathway to thrive. It's my honor to present this bill on behalf of Assemblywoman Rodriguez. I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you so much for presenting the bill for her.

File item 13, AB 2441. The motion is due pass to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Lee? Aye. Lee, aye. Castillo? Aye. Castillo, aye. Gibson? Aye. Gibson, aye. Ahuari? Aye. Ahuari, aye. Jackson?

Jackson, aye. Solanche? Aye. Solanche, aye. Tongapaw? Aye. Tongapaw, aye.

On the consent calendar, current vote is 3-0. Lee?

Lee, aye. Castillo? Aye. Castillo, aye. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Tongapaw?

Tongapaw, aye. Final vote on the consent calendar, 7-0. File item 1, AB 1655. Current vote is 4-0. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Final vote, 5-0. File item two, AB 1746, current vote is six to zero. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Final vote, seven to zero. File item three, AB 1755, current vote is six to zero. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Final vote, seven to zero. File item six, AB1969, current vote is four to one. Jackson?

Jackson, aye. Tongapaw? No. Tongapaw, no. Final vote, five to two. File item nine, AB2072, current vote is five to zero. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Final vote, six to zero. File item 10, AB2092, current vote, three to zero. Lee? Aye. Lee, aye. Castillo?

Castillo, aye. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Tongapaw? Aye. Tongapaw, aye. Final vote, seven to zero. File item 11, AB 2278. Current vote is three to zero. Lee? Lee, aye. Castillo? Not voting. Castillo, not voting. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Tongapaw? Not voting. Tongapaw, not voting. Final vote, five to zero. File item 12, AB 2429, current vote 6-0. Jackson? Aye. Jackson, aye. Final vote 7-0. File item 14, AB 2567, current vote is 6-0. Tongopah? No. Tongopah, no. Final vote 6-1.

Are you? I'm wonderful.