© 2026 First 5 Center for Children’s Policy. All rights reserved.
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As California focuses on improving the quality of maternal care delivery and reducing disparities for our Medi-Cal birthing population, many First 5s are already engaged in work to support families during the prenatal and postpartum periods.
The Governor’s 2025 May revision of the state budget proposes freezing new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented immigrant adults, and adding $100 Medi-Cal premiums for undocumented adults already enrolled in Medi-Cal.
Since July 2022, community health worker services have been a covered benefit under Medi-Cal. Despite being available for the past three years, utilization, especially for children, has fallen short.
In Yolo County, all postpartum families with Medi-Cal coverage are offered the Welcome Baby: Road to Resilience (Welcome Baby) program. Started and championed in 2019 by Gina Daleiden, First 5 Yolo Chief Executive Officer, Welcome Baby first started as The CHILD Project: Road to Resilience, an in-clinic and in-home navigation program.
The passage of the federal reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, in July has left many states scrambling to understand how drastic actions to restrict access to social services, such as Medicaid and SNAP, will impact their communities.
Home visiting and family support programs are integral services for California’s prenatal to five population. Rooted in relationships, these programs connect with families during the vulnerable prenatal and early childhood periods, supporting perinatal mental health, parenting, and child development and health.
Every child deserves to grow up feeling safe, supported, and surrounded by people they trust. Their mental health and overall wellbeing depend on it. But in many communities across the country, that promise is slipping away.
Nicole's work focuses on strengthening early childhood systems and services, particularly for young children with disabilities and multilingual learners. Most recently, Nicole was a program analyst ...
First 5s and their community partners are not peripheral to Medi-Cal transformation - they are foundational to reaching California’s most vulnerable families. They bring cultural relevance, trust, community embeddedness, and the ability to bridge clinical systems to populations that have historically experienced barriers to healthcare access.
© 2026 First 5 Center for Children’s Policy. All rights reserved.