December 2025 Newsletter
Celebrating the Power of Partnership this Holiday Season
As we close out the year, The Children’s Partnership would like to thank each and every one of you for your support.
2025 has been an extremely challenging year, and we felt it intensely as advocates for children and families of color and those living on low incomes. From defending the public institutions that our families rely on for their health and well-being, to supporting safe-spaces for the early learning and education providers who care for our children, we leaned on the power of partnership more than ever.
Those partnerships paid off. Without them, we wouldn’t have made the kind of impactful progress we did in 2025.
We know the challenges will keep coming in 2026, and so we want to do two things:
First, we wish you a much-needed restorative holiday season filled with joy from friends and family.
Second, we ask you to consider making a gift to The Children’s Partnership. No gift is too small when it goes toward supporting children’s health equity in the face of what we know will be another difficult year.
Our sincerest thanks for a powerful year of partnership and for being a part of our village. Happy holidays!
IN MEMORIAM
The Children’s Partnership mourns the passing of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner and extends our deepest condolences to his family, loved ones, and all who were touched by his extraordinary work and life. Rob Reiner was a visionary champion for children, whose leadership helped transform California’s early childhood system for the better. He led by example, using his resources and powerful position to advance Proposition 10, which created a new dedicated revenue source to found First 5 California and secure lasting investments that have improved access to health care, early learning and family supports for millions. He knew all children are our children, and his unwavering commitment to equity and opportunity will continue to guide and inspire our work for generations to come.
Tell Congress to Extend Health Insurance Subsidies NOW
Congress continues to be deadlocked about keeping our health care affordable. House Speaker Mike Johnson has now confirmed he will not bring a vote to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, all but guaranteeing they will expire at the end of this month. If Congress doesn’t act NOW, nearly 2 million Californians will see their premiums double — or even triple — on January 1.
California representatives, including David Valadao and Young Kim, previously promised to prioritize extending these subsidies once the shutdown ended. The shutdown is now over, and it’s time for them to stand by their word, not turn their backs on the people in their districts.
We are running out of time. Tell your representative to extend the ACA subsidies now — before millions of Californians are hit with impossible costs and forced to make devastating choices about their coverage.
Peer-to-Peer Year One Impact Report
As we urge California to lead in our commitment to child health equity, we’re excited to share key findings from the first year of our Peer-to-Peer Youth Mental Health High School Pilot Demonstration. This impact report affirms that peer-led mental health support is benefiting students and transforming school culture. Students are stepping into leadership roles, mental-health stigma is decreasing, and schools are reporting stronger relationships, greater belonging and noticeable shifts toward restorative practices.
The data from the program’s first year is compelling:
- 96% of students felt better after using peer support services;
- 88% felt comfortable opening up to their peer mentor;
- 85% would recommend the program to a peer; and
- 91% found the resources provided highly useful.
To sustain and scale this progress, the impact report highlights several opportunities, including multi-year funding for program stability, districtwide adoption of restorative and peer-support practices, and meaningful youth leadership in mental health decision-making.
Students are leading the way in showing what works. Now is the moment to invest in expanding it.
📢 NEW RESOURCE! Creating Safe and Inclusive Schools:
A TK-12 Toolkit
Children in immigrant families, like all children, deserve a safe and welcoming environment in their places of learning. ALL IN for Safe Schools is proud to share a new TK-12 toolkit that offers a comprehensive hub designed to help educators implement safe, inclusive practices with clear know-your-rights (KYR) guidance. Resources include:
- Strategies to protect and support students from immigrant families and LGBTQ+ students
- Student- and family-centered tools to promote advocacy, wellness and belonging
- Actionable guidance and connections to support networks, so no educator has to navigate these challenges alone
Other resources to support safe schools and children in immigrant families:
- Digital toolkit for sharing “Know Your Rights! Five Things Parents Should Know if Detained by ICE.” Parents have a right to make decisions about the care and safety of their children, even while in ICE custody. This digital toolkit helps spread the word for CLASP/NILC’s new know-your-rights resource for parents detained by ICE and is available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
- FWD.us recently released a new report, The Power of Plyler, which demonstrates the outsize positive impact Plyler v. Doe (which gives undocumented children access to education in U.S. public schools) has had on the U.S. economy, workforce and public health, and the calamitous consequences that would result if it were reversed. The report also includes fact sheets for select states, including California, that illustrate the benefits of Plyler at the local level.
Choose Children 2026 Kicks Off Campaign to Put Children First
The Children’s Partnership is excited to announce the official launch of Choose Children 2026!
The statewide campaign’s goal is to ensure California’s next governor prioritizes investment in young children and their families. This campaign focuses on the most pressing needs of California’s families with young children, from overall affordability to the stability of our safety net programs, and brings these issues into the spotlight alongside next year’s much-anticipated gubernatorial race.
Choose Children 2026 officially launched December 3 with a press conference, where TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez and our steering committee partners uplifted new California polling results and released the campaign’s policy platform. Read Alvarez’s remarks.
The new polling data shows affordability is the No. 1 concern for California families and voters, with many parents reporting child care is a major financial strain forcing families to make trade-offs to keep costs manageable. In response, Choose Children released a policy platform calling on all gubernatorial candidates to strengthen economic supports, expand high quality health care, and increase access to affordable child care. The policy platform closely aligns with the goals of Bringing Up California and our work to make Calfornia the best state to have, raise and be a child.
These findings and recommendations send a powerful message: The well-being of young children and families must be at the center of the 2026 governor’s race as a vital investment in our state’s future.
Visit Choose Children’s website to stay up-to-date on the campaign: https://choosechildren.org/.
Choose Children is a statewide coalition of child advocates, community-based organizations, First 5 commissions and foundations committed to early childhood investment. The Children’s Partnership serves as a member of the Choose Children steering committee, leading the campaign’s partnership efforts.
Liza Davis Presents on Safe Spaces and the Well-being of Children
Liza M. Davis, TCP’s advocacy director of children in immigrant families, has been busy educating partners and community members on best practices for creating safe spaces for young children’s education.
Liza joined Vision y Compromiso’s “Know Your Rights Training Series For Promotoras and Partners” to educate promotoras and caregivers on creating and promoting safe early childhood education spaces for children in immigrant families.
Along with ALL IN for Safe Schools co-chair Californians Together, Liza also participated in the CALNEW webinar series to present on “Safe, Supportive, & Welcoming Schools for Newcomers.” This session—designed for school and district practitioners—offered practical guidance and policy updates to help educators create welcoming and informed school communities. To watch this webinar and learn more about CALNew, visit calnew.net.
Liza then joined the Child Care Licensing Provider Webinar series, where she presented to ECE providers on infant and early childhood mental health – what it is, why it matters – and highlighted state and community resources available to support young children and their families. Click here to access the Child Care Licensing Webinar webpage.
TCP Co-Sponsored Bill Voted Top 5 at ABMoC Summit
Last week, Ebony Durham and Jazmín Estevez-Rosas from The Children’s Partnership’s mental health advocacy team joined partners from across the state at the 2025 Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (ABMoC) Annual Summit in Oakland. The two-day gathering brought together advocates, youth leaders and community organizations to build solidarity, share strategies and plan for the year ahead using community-led, youth-centered solutions.
TCP and the California Alliance of Child and Family Services presented our co-sponsored bill, the Peer Employment Equity & Reform (PEER) Act, which would streamline background check exemptions for foster youth and justice-impacted youth so they have an equitable opportunity to become peer supporters. We uplifted how the bill would:
- Allow for preliminary background checks and automatic exemptions for non-violent offenses before age 21, a common situation for young people with childhood trauma related to being in the foster care or justice systems
- Maintain safety by excluding serious crimes
- Open up employment pathways in short-term residential therapeutic programs, group homes and youth-serving programs.
- Strengthen California’s workforce with culturally relevant, lived-experience peer support.
The summit closed with an inspiring campaign gallery and bill priority vote. The PEER Act was voted into the top 5 bills for ABMoC’s 2026 policy agenda. TCP looks forward to continuing this work with our partners as we push for policy change that centers youth voice, community healing and economic opportunity.
Angela M. Vázquez at Together We Thrive
Leaders from across Los Angeles County, including the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and First 5 LA, came together last month at Westside Infant-Family Network’s Together We Thrive conference to talk about the policies shaping young children’s well-being, including those shaped by Proposition 1, CalAIM and federal uncertainty.
Angela M. Vázquez, TCP’s mental health advocacy director, helped guide these conversations as moderator of the open plenary session, alongside community leaders such as Karla Pleitez Howell from First 5 LA, Lisa H. Wong from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Jacqueline Chun of the LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment and more. The panel brainstormed real solutions to turn today’s challenges into momentum for lasting change.
Early support for young children’s mental health is game-changing. Together, we’re creating the conditions every child deserves.
Somos Latine Families 2025
This fall, TCP’s Early Childhood Development team once again collaborated with the Brazelton Touchpoints Center to bring together Latine families from across the country to reflect, connect and grow in our 2025 Somos Latine Families webinar series. From the rich conversations to the audience numbers that pushed the Zoom room to its limits, and the reminder of the importance of holding space for joy, culture and shared wisdom, 2025 Somos was one to remember.
Somos was held weekly from September to October with live Spanish interpretation and captions. Each session drew over 500 attendees, reflecting a powerful demand for culturally grounded, community-driven conversations. For our 2025 series, we considered the immediate issues our Latine families are facing and held conversations with several community experts on these topics, offering ideas, support and resources.
Thank you for supporting Somos Latine Families 2025!
With deep gratitude to our incredible speakers, families and partners. And a special thank you to Eva Rivera, MSW, for moderating the series and continuing to support TCP’s mission.
Attend The Power of Partnerships April 27-28
The California School-Based Health Alliance’s (CSHA) statewide School Health & Behavioral Conference in Los Angeles (Universal City) April 27-28, 2026, will be an opportunity for providers, educators and advocates to connect and learn how to best support students by increasing wellness in schools.
See details and register: https://cvent.me/o3ONGV.
You can save an additional $200 per person if your organization becomes a member of CSHA. Check if your organization is a member or become a member now.
Faith Colburn Pens Op-ed on Federal Impacts on Immigrant Families
As members of the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition, Faith Colburn, TCP’s health care advocacy director, and Benyamin Chao, California Immigrant Policy Center’s policy manager of health & public benefits, co-authored an opinion piece in The Bakersfield Californian. They write, “Half the people in immigrant families are U.S. citizens. The simple fact is that the federal budget enacted by Republicans and President Trump will harm U.S. citizens — including the 44% of California children living in immigrant families.”
Choose Children 2026 Featured in Public News Service
The launch of Choose Children 2026 was highlighted by Public News Service. TCP President Mayra E. Alvarez, who spoke at the press briefing, was quoted on the need for California’s next governor to invest in children and families by bringing down costs. “Parents are grappling with one fundamental, urgent challenge that you’ll hear loud and clear today, and that’s affordability, affordable housing, affordable health care, affordable child care,” said Alvarez. “These issues aren’t distant policy debates. They shape every decision a parent makes at home.” The article also ran in El Observador in Spanish.
