If there is one issue most Americans would agree on right now, it’s that we should protect our youngest children from hunger during the Covid-19 crisis. And yet the closure of child care facilities in California and across the country means hundreds of thousands of infants and young children may not be getting the free meals they regularly depend on.
As the pandemic continues, the government needs to take stronger action to ensure that our youngest children aren’t going hungry.
Under a state law that took effect in January 2018, counties are no longer supposed to charge fees to youth involved in the juvenile legal system, or their families.
However, a recent study found that some counties continue to illegally collect some prohibited fees. Others are chasing young people and their families for debts they incurred before the law took effect.
Nearly 1.2 million California children live in low-income neighborhoods, a number that has decreased in the decade since the Great Recession, but remains troubling, researchers said in a new report.