Elizabeth Aguilera / CalMatters

Medi-Cal doctors are screening more patients for adverse childhood experiences, but they aren’t required to report whether those patients receive therapy or other services they may need. Yet getting that helps is key to preventing chronic health or mental health conditions later in life, research finds.

Under previous rules, family members of those who had insurance through an employer were not eligible for Covered California. In some cases, those employer plans cover the employee but are expensive for spouses and children, leaving families with few options.

This school year the California transitional kindergarten program began expanding to eventually include all 4-year-olds. But amidst a teacher shortage, some school districts had to move teachers already on staff or lure staff away from preschool programs.

For the last two years, some families who receive subsidized child care got a waiver from the fees they pay to participate. But the waiver will end next year after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have extended it, citing an expected decrease in state revenue.

An infant formula shortage plaguing the nation has been difficult for all families that need it, but state and federal limitations have made it even worse for low-income families in California that rely on government assistance.

California day camps operate without background checks, CPR training, child/adult ratios or required reporting of injury and death. A family whose daughter drowned at a camp is working to change that.

The state decides it won’t require COVID vaccines for children this fall, and a bill to mandate kid's vaccines without personal belief exemptions stalls out.

A group of California legislators has crafted vaccine laws that would be the most aggressive state approach to vaccines in the nation.

Lawmakers want to create stricter vaccine mandates, especially for children. They anticipate an especially fierce fight in the coming months.

The number of California children diagnosed with COVID-19 during the omicron variant surge has “skyrocketed,” challenging earlier notions that the coronavirus largely bypassed children. Child vaccination rates are relatively low, and children who contract COVID-19 could be at increased risk for rare conditions and diabetes.

California wants to restart in-person inspections of child care centers. Providers are worried that the inspectors, who may not be vaccinated, could jeopardize the health of their charges and their business.