Children-and-youth

Hilton, the latest celebrity to lobby the Legislature, persuaded it to pass a law that brings more transparency on the use of restraints and seclusion rooms.

Birth centers are midwife-run facilities that deliver babies outside of hospitals. They have struggled to stay in business in part because of strict state licensing requirements.

As California confronts what another four years under President Donald Trump means, Gen Z should respond not with exasperation but courage to lead.

Finally, California is enacting laws to protect children from social media addiction and the harms of smartphones. It's a welcome sign for many families that have endured tragedy or hardship.

Certain synthetic food dyes are linked to behavioral issues in kids. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to ban them in school snacks by 2028.

Dozens of California hospitals shut their maternity wards over the past decade, and the trend continued in 2024 after lawmakers advanced plans to slow the closures.

Birth centers are popular options for families who want to deliver a baby outside of a hospital. Nineteen of them closed in California in the past decade, deepening the state's maternity care crisis.

California child welfare agencies must investigate claims of Native American ancestry before separating a family, the California Supreme Court stressed in a new ruling that affects several contested cases.

The federal government is clawing huge amounts of unused pandemic benefits for hungry kids in California. The new summer EBT program aims to overcome past failures, but cards have a shorter shelf life.

Too few trees at California’s schools mean there’s little protecting students from a warming planet. Here’s how advocates say the state can pay for more shade.