San Joaquin County Community Service & Support Articles

Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County CEO Erica Padilla-Chavez looks at food insecurity as a symptom of an underlying disorder—one that can be cured.

Hospitals all over California are closing their maternity wards, including in dense cities like Los Angeles and in more remote communities in the Sierra Nevada.

More than 30 states require insurers to provide some level of coverage for kids’ hearing aids. California isn’t one of them, and Gov. Newsom for the second time has vetoed a bill to close that gap.

California Local enters the world of book publishing with its upcoming book, ‘How California Works,’ explaining the inner workings of this ‘most American state.’

California’s COVID-era rent relief program, long saddled with delays, criticisms and legal woes, appears to be running out of money. What does that mean for the more than 100,000 renters still awaiting help?

A union-backed bill that would make strikers eligible for California’s unemployment benefits awaits the governor’s signature. Businesses say it’ll cost too much.

Police can’t force homeless people from encampments unless the city in question has “adequate shelter” for those who are displaced, according to courts. Now everyone involved wants to know what “adequate” means.

Some independent California community hospitals have struggled with rising costs since the COVID-19 pandemic. Three declared bankruptcy this year, prompting the state to distribute interest-free loans.

American Medical Response has poured more than $3 million into a November 2024 initiative to raise requirements for levying taxes and fees. The company says it’s looking out for patients, but local officials say it’s about the money.

By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.

A conversation with Stacy Caldwell, CEO of Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation

A recent state survey reveals 2 in 3 Black women are breadwinners; 8 in 10 worry about discrimination or mistreatment and more like Gov. Gavin Newsom than Vice President Kamala Harris.

Showing solidarity with other social classes is a prominent union strategy in the so-called “hot labor summer” sweeping California. It’s too soon to say if the inter-union activity will get employers to bargain.

California grants school boards much local control, but recent events have pushed the state to take steps to stop local school board meetings from turning into potentially dangerous culture war battlegrounds.

Transfer to a four-year institution is a benchmark for success among community colleges, but the numbers are low and disparities across the system persist, especially between colleges in rural areas and those in wealthy suburbs.

One California mental health crisis center grew its staff by almost 50 percent to handle that number of calls from people in need of counseling that it’s received since the state launched its 988 hotline a year ago.

A new ban on flavored tobacco products is accelerating a decline in nicotine tax revenue that funds California’s early childhood services. Some programs are already making cuts.

Los Angeles’ new homelessness solution is meant to quickly get people out of encampments and into housing—as the city grapples with the state’s largest population of unhoused residents. But the program is struggling to house people and connect them with …

After weeks of negotiations, the governor and top Democrats in the Legislature say they have a budget deal. Legislators will start voting today on bills related to the agreement, which sets spending and policy across a wide range of issues …

You have to be 18 to get divorced in California, but there’s no minimum age to get married. Child marriage survivors protested at the state Capitol, but the Legislature likely won’t act until next year.