SEE OUR FRAMEWORK FOR BUILDING SOLUTIONS

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OUR NEW POLICY BRIEF

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Our Vision

Our Vision

All children in California receive the support they need for healthy development and social and emotional well-being.

Fall 2019 Northern California All Trust Meeting

Thursday, October 10, 2019 • 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Lincoln, 1266 14th St., Oakland, CA 94607

RSVP

Please Note: We will be holding a Southern California All Trust Meeting with an identical agenda on Thursday, November 14, in Los Angeles. We’re still working to finalize a location, and will be in touch with an RSVP link soon.

AB 898 NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT

Download the support letter template and fact sheet with background information on AB 898.

Letter Template
Fact Sheet

Per the new instructions from the Legislature this year, support letters need to be submitted through the California Legislature Advocates Portal.
For instructions on how to submit letters through the portal, click here.
Please send a copy of your support letter to sean@socialchangepartners.com and/or email him if you have trouble submitting through the portal.

Why Our Children Need a Better Approach

We Need A Better Approach

Our child and youth-serving systems in California are fragmented. The current systems are hard for families and providers to navigate. Complex financing, administrative, and oversight structures make service delivery challenging for both communities and counties. This results in inequities in service access and unspent and under-leveraged funds that need to be put to better use. In our current system, children, youth, and families simply aren’t receiving the services they need to ensure their healthy development.

Consider the Numbers

Only 5%
of children with Medi-Cal receive a behavioral health service
Only 35%
of youth in California who report needing mental health support actually receive it
43rd
is California’s ranking in providing behavioral, social and developmental screenings, which are key to identifying early signs of challenges
70%
of youth involved in California’s juvenile justice system have unmet behavioral health needs and youth of color are over-represented

75% of chronic mental illness begins by age 24. We know that a child’s healthy development forms the foundation for adult health and the intergenerational health of families. Yet most children in California do not receive the support they need for healthy development despite the fact that 97% have health insurance and 50% of all California children are covered by Medi-Cal.

Read Our Policy Briefs

Reimagining Behavioral Health for California's Children and Their Families

Changing our systems to improve child well-being is our collective responsibility

Our solution focuses on bringing people and child-oriented systems together, throughout California, to redesign service delivery, promote health policies that consider the whole child and family, and create effective funding mechanisms that will transform our failing systems. We have an obligation and an unprecedented opportunity to create an integrated system that promotes healthy development, healing, and resilience for our children, youth and families.

Our Theory of Change is a Bold Step-By-Step Process

Step 1

Build Consensus

Step 2

Design the Solution

Step 3

Institutionalize Change

Step 4

Improve Child Well-Being

Learn More

Our Key Principles

Our Key Principles

The California Children’s Trust asks all of its Coalition Partners to affirm five Key Principles

Early intervention is critical to healthy development.

California needs to widen access to behavioral health supports.

Racism and poverty contribute to health inequities across California.

Collaborative and accountable systems change is the way forward.

The time for change is now.

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