2022 California Children's Report Card: A Survey of Kids' Well-Being & Roadmap for the Future

Young people across California are leading the way forward socially, culturally, and politically. They are organizing for racial justice, learning and working and caring for family members during a pandemic, and voting in record numbers. The past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic has been hardest on kids, particularly children of color, in poverty, or in the child welfare system. The California Children's Report Card grades the State on its ability to support better outcomes for kids, from prenatal to age 26. Each grade is based on the State's progress (or lack thereof) on passing and implementing state-level policies and making investments in the supports and services needed for all kids to reach their full potential. The Pro-Kid Agenda provides recommendations to the state's leaders on how to improve outcomes for kids in each section. This year's California Children's Report Card highlights some good news: key areas of improvement in the State's ability to meet the needs of California's children with increased funding and policy advances. Yet, in far too many areas, state leaders are failing to do enough to support kids. This lack of policy progress, along with unacceptable racial gaps highlighted in the data and the state's mediocre national rankings, contribute to the mostly low grades in this report. The report card is organized into the following sections: (1) Health; (2) Education; (3) Family Supports; (4) Child Welfare; and (5) Adolescents & Transition Age Youth.