California Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council

The council must develop benchmarks and policy-review considerations aimed at cutting statewide child poverty by 50% within 10 years. It creates a public process for evaluating how proposed policies, budgets, laws, and administrative systems affect child poverty and family burdens.

What the law does ​

• Establishes the 19-member California Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council within the State Department of Social Services, which must staff and administer it.
• Requires the council to convene by April 1, 2027, meet at least quarterly, and be cochaired by the Secretary of California Health and Human Services and the Director of Social Services, or their designees.
• Requires a plan to reduce duplication among child-poverty and child-welfare bodies and reports, with annual benchmarks toward reducing child poverty by 50% within 10 years.
• Requires annual reviews of at least one multiagency policy, budget item, or bill and one multiagency program or process, with results posted publicly.
• Requires recommendations to the Legislature by March 1, 2028, and a progress report by January 1, 2030; the council ends in 2030 and the law is repealed in 2031.

Who it affects ​

• Children and families experiencing poverty or barriers to public services.
• State agencies and multiagency programs serving children and families.
• Policymakers considering legislation, budget provisions, and administrative changes affecting children.