New California Laws 2026
An act to amend Section 527.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, to amend Sections 6307 and 6308 of the Family Code, to amend Section 6103.2 of the Gov- ernment Code, and to amend Section 15657.03 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to restraining orders. AB 562, Solache. Foster care: placement: family finding. Adds to the requirements for county welfare departments when investigating the names and lo- cations of relatives of a child who has been removed from their home due to abuse or neglect, to include an annual review of data comparing the statewide average rate of placing children with relatives, and mandatory communication with the Center for Ex- cellence in Family Finding, Engagement, and Sup- port (Center) if the county’s average is less than the statewide average. An act to amend Section 309 of the Welfare and In- stitutions Code, relating to foster care. AB 563, Jackson. Childcare: Early Childhood Pol- icy Council. Requires the Early Childhood Policy Council (ECPC) to include successes, challenges, gaps, and recommendations in its existing annual re- port and submit it to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees. An act to amend Section 10320 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to childcare. AB 593, Wicks. CalFresh: data sharing. Strikes ex- isting law that enumerated the public entities autho- rized to share data with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) for purposes related to CalFresh, while retaining the authority for CDSS to identify data-sharing opportunities with other state and local public entities, and any other unit of state government for these same purposes. An act to amend Section 18901.59 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to CalFresh. AB 607, Celeste Rodriguez. CalWORKs: Home Visiting Program. Extends the allowable duration of the California Work Opportunity and Responsi- bility to Kids (CalWORKs) Home Visiting Program (HVP). An act to amend Section 11330.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services. AB 651, Bryan. Juveniles: dependency: incarcer- ated parent. This bill requires notice and the oppor- tunity for an incarcerated parent to be physically present at specified dependency hearings related to their child, or the opportunity to participate in those proceedings by videoconference or teleconference when their physical presence is waived. An act to amend Section 2625 of the Penal Code, and to amend Section 349 of the Welfare and Institu- tions Code, relating to juveniles. AB 678, Lee. Interagency Council on Homeless- ness. Requires California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CA-ICH) to identify policies and best practices for culturally competent services for LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness. An act to add Section 8257.3 to the Welfare and In- stitutions Code, relating to homelessness. AB 753, Garcia. Childcare: facility licensure: teach- er requirements. Authorizes the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Cali- fornia Department of Social Services (CDSS) direc- tor to require contracting agencies to provide data on the number of assistant teacher permits or waivers to the California Department of Education (CDE) and CDSS, and to issue informal directives to imple- ment this requirement. Authorizes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) to issue a nonrenewable, two-year assistant teacher permit that allows the permitholder to assist in the care, development, and instruction of children, including temporary independent supervision for up to 120 minutes per day under teacher-level oversight. Re- quires implementation by January 30, 2026, sunsets these requirements one year after the adoption of the revised child development permit matrix, and adds an urgency statute. An act to add Section 8231.5 to, and to add and re- peal Section 8301.1 of, the Education Code, and to add Section 10267.6 to, and to add and repeal Section 10383.1 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relat- ing to childcare, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. AB 777, Celeste Rodriguez. Food assistance: di- sasters: utilities. Requires investor owned electric utilities (IOUs) and publicly owned electric utilities (POUs) to adopt data sharing agreements with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in order to maximize federal food assistance following disasters, including certain power outages. The bill also requires specified actions by the CDSS, includ- ing the generation of a report for submission to the Legislature. An act to amend Sections 16001.9, 16010.7, and 16519.5 of, and to add Section 16010.11 to, the Wel- fare and Institutions Code, relating to child welfare services. AB 779, Lackey. Child welfare services: domes- tic violence consultant pilot program. Authorizes counties to establish a three-year pilot program in which the county partners with a domestic violence consultant from a domestic violence victim service organization to offer support and guidance to county social workers in addressing the complex dynamics of families who are potentially experiencing both domestic violence and child maltreatment. Requires participating counties to seek the input of the Cali- fornia Department of Social Services (CDSS) in the design and implementation of the evaluation of the pilot program. An act to add and repeal Section 16515 of the Wel- fare and Institutions Code, relating to child welfare services. AB 798, Calderon. State Emergency Food Bank Reserve Program: diapers and wipes. Requires the State Emergency Food Bank Reserve (SEFBR) Pro- gram to provide children’s diapers and wipes, pro- vide funding for the provision of children’s diapers and wipes, and reimburse food banks for children’s diapers and wipes during natural or human-made disasters. An act to amend Section 18995.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to children’s health.
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