Santa Cruz County Families & Children Digest

By declining to hear a conservative group’s challenge, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a California ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. California is one of 22 states to ban this practice.

Although the federal government is providing four free COVID tests per month, that’s not the only way to get them. Aetna and Blue Shield of California members can be reimbursed for up to eight at-home tests per month, while Kaiser Permanente is offering discounts on tests.

California’s “failure to protect” law allows child welfare agencies to take kids from households scarred by domestic violence. Advocates say the separation can worsen a family’s trauma.

Christmas at Closter Park returns to Salinas for its third year with different family activities live performances, arts and crafts, real snow and raffled Christmas trees, which sponsors decorate and donate.

In 2020, the state agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit that claimed too many students were not learning to read. As part of that agreement, the state spent over $50 million on 75 schools with the lowest reading scores.

San Diego-area nonprofits and faith organizations struggle to provide for tens of thousands of migrants border agents have released on San Diego streets.

Students and teachers alike are decrying the actions of the Temecula Valley Unified School District board, which became conservative in majority following the recent elections of three members. The board’s actions include banning critical race theory and mandating parental notification if their child is transgender.

Utility giant PG&E is set to raise its rates an average of 13% on Jan. 1. That equals an extra $32.50 a month, or $390 for the year.

The Double Up Food Bucks program—with its proven ability to connect food-insecure families and individuals to more fresh produce—officially debuted in Monterey County.

Parents say flavored medication can help ensure their kids finish a prescription. Far fewer California pharmacies are offering that service as they await new rules from a state regulator.

About one-third of Santa Cruz County households struggle to afford basic expenses like housing, healthcare and childcare, according to a new United Way study. That figure rises to 58% of Latino households in the county and 45% of households with young children.

The state will offer a free mental health app beginning Jan. 1 for people ages 13-25. It is currently being tested in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

County Park Friends—working to raise $1 million of the anticipated $1.79 million cost for Capitola’s universally accessible playground at Jade Street Park—has good news to share.

California kids have some of the lowest-ranked dental health in the United States, with challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. Here’s a look at the problem and what’s being done to address it.

More than 40 states are suing the social media giant. The legal actions allege that Meta has deceived the public about the harms of Facebook and Instagram, which the attorneys general say “exploit and manipulate” children.

Signed by the governor in September 2022, AB 2881 aims to help student parents in California by offering them priority registration. Advocates are optimistic the law will formalize data collection, allowing them to better serve this student population that represents 1 in 5 students nationally.

Despite an influx of money to counter learning loss during the pandemic, English language arts and math test scores remain low.

Kaiser patients waited 19 days for follow-up mental health appointments in 2019, nine days longer than state law permits. The settlement includes the largest-ever penalty issued by California’s behavioral health regulator.

The center has been helping families in Santa Cruz County since 1933 albeit originally as the YWCA.

Two new rides are coming to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk next year, including a new Ferris wheel and another spinning ride called “Surge.”

The Capitola City Council unanimously landed on “Treasure Cove at Jade Street Park” as the name for the new universally accessible playground.

Newsom rejected Senate Bill 799, which would have paid striking workers California unemployment benefits after two weeks, and SB 686, which would have extended workplace safety protections to domestic workers, such as housekeepers and nannies.

Several anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are advertising abortion pill reversal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the claims false advertising that mislead vulnerable patients.

A small group of activists want California voters to decide whether transgender minors should be allowed to receive puberty blockers, hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries.

Santa Cruz County schools lack consistent standards to accommodate student learning after a concussion. The Sentinel asked high schools and school districts across the county to provide any protocols and statistics tracking concussions among their students.

“This pump track would be the only resource of its kind in the San Lorenzo Valley,” said Rebecca Hurley, deputy director of the Santa Cruz County Parks Department.

Many California caregivers are aging immigrants making near-minimum wage. Two bills to improve pay and safety could benefit elderly Californians facing a caregiver shortage.

From brainy write-ups to passionate pleas for reform, here are selected excerpts from CalMatters' Earth Day op-ed contest.

A family of four with a monthly income of $3,130 or less may be eligible to receive as much as $939 in food benefits through the program, according to a release from state authorities.

On March 16, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Timothy Schmal swore in 13 community members as Court Appointed Special Advocates for children in foster care.

Over the last decade, Dr. Charles Limbach noticed something strange in his family medicine practice in East Salinas. Kids between 5 and 15 years old showed elevated levels of liver enzymes, a sign of liver inflammation.

Children have been displaced, with families living out of cars, sleeping in emergency shelters or moving out of Monterey County to stay with relatives.