AB1969: California Community Schools Partnership Program: Promise Neighborhoods.

Amended IN Senate June 10, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1969 Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta February 13, 2026 An act to add Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 8300) to Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to poverty. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1969, as amended, Bonta. California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Schools Incentive Grant Program. Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to, among other things, plan and evaluate strategies for overcoming poverty in the state, mobilize resources in support of antipoverty and community services programs, and administer public and private funds designed to support antipoverty programs that are not currently administered by other departments. Existing law establishes the Cradle-to-Career Data System for the purpose of connecting individuals and organizations to trusted information and resources, as a source for actionable data and research on education, economic, and health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities, and to provide for expanded access to tools and services that support the education-to-employment pipeline, as specified. This bill, the It Takes a Village Act of 2026, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for these purposes, would establish the California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Schools Incentive Grant Program to be administered by the State Department of Social Services or another department within the California Health and Human Services Agency. The bill would require the department to grant awards for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 fiscal years to eligible entities that are neighborhood partnerships partnerships, Promise Neighborhoods, or regional partnerships, as those terms are defined, to support educational outcomes, reduce child poverty poverty, and advance economic mobility for children and families disproportionately affected by intergenerational poverty. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education, to develop an application process and would require the department to establish performance standards to measure progress on indicators and results relevant to the evaluation of the grant program. The bill would require each grant recipient to prepare and submit an annual report to the department that includes information about the number and percentage of children, family members, and community members served by the grant recipient and disaggregated data at population and program levels related to the grant recipient’s program’s success, as specified. The bill would make that data subject to all applicable privacy laws and would require the department to enforce data privacy and protection policies with all grant recipients. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Children and families thrive when communities coordinate the resources and supports they need from birth through adulthood. In California’s diverse society where the persistently high cost of living, including housing, transportation, and food, threatens family stability, the Legislature intends to ensure that children and families, particularly those in economically disadvantaged communities, have equitable access to high-quality education, health care, stable and affordable housing, and other supports that promote well-being, advance economic mobility, and interrupt cycles of intergenerational poverty. (b) Despite large statewide investments in education, health, social services, and other programs directed at children and their families, California faces persistently high rates of child poverty and educational achievement gaps across the state. Cash payments, food assistance, and crucial services do not reach many children and families who are most in need because of significant access barriers that are often due to inequitable systemic barriers, and when provided, the services are fragmented and offered through organizationally siloed programs without attention to improving those equitable systems. (b) California has made historic investments in supporting the development of communities through integrated, whole-child, and place-based strategies intended to improve long-term outcomes for children and families. These investments include community schools, universal prekindergarten, CalAIM community supports, the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P), the California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS), the California State Plan for Career Technical Education, behavioral health initiatives, and other statewide efforts designed to strengthen educational success, economic mobility, and family stability. While these investments represent significant progress, many of these initiatives continue to operate in fragmented systems that make it difficult for children and families to access coordinated support. (c) A proven solution to this problem is to invest in community schools and place-based initiatives that: are equity focused; are data driven and have the capacity to identify the highest needs within the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods or regions; have the resources and trusted relationships within the communities to align, coordinate, leverage, and enhance services provided by state and local government, community-based organizations, nonprofits, businesses, and other entities active in the local community toward equitable outcomes; and identify systems’ needs, work with partners to address systemic needs, and measure systemic improvements. (d) Both neighborhood-based and Neighborhood-based partnerships, regional place-based partnerships partnerships, and community schools that align and coordinate services and systems have demonstrated significant positive outcomes and strong returns on investment in the communities they serve. Neighborhood-focused (e) Neighborhood-focused partnerships, such as federal Promise Neighborhoods, have driven substantial improvements in health care access, kindergarten readiness, literacy and mathematics achievement, high school graduation, college and career readiness, child welfare and juvenile justice outcomes, and overall family stability. A recent independent analysis by RTI International found a $3.97 societal return for every $1.00 invested in these programs. Similarly, regional partnerships have contributed to narrowing achievement gaps and enhancing a broad spectrum of outcomes, from preterm birth rates and early childcare quality to early grade reading, middle grade mathematics, high school graduation, and postsecondary completion. Together, these neighborhood and regional strategies illustrate the power of coordinated, place-based approaches to generate meaningful, lasting benefits for children, families, and communities. (e) (f) This collaborative approach ensures that a continuum of services reach children in communities where they are needed the most. This is especially important in communities experiencing high levels of homelessness. Neighborhood and regional partnerships can coordinate efforts among government agencies and other local organizations to ensure that those experiencing homelessness, or are at risk of becoming homeless, have full access to all programs and services to which they are entitled. (f) (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the vital contributions provided by these community-based and regional networks be brought to scale, scale so that all children and families have the opportunities and continuum of services needed to break the cycle of poverty. SEC. 2. Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 8300) is added to Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: CHAPTER 10. California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Schools Incentive Grant Program 8300. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the It Takes a Village Act of 2026. 8301. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) “Community School” has the same meaning as defined in Section 8901 of the Education Code. (a) (b) “Cradle-to-career” means a system of integrated services that begins before birth and leads to appropriate postsecondary success, including academic, occupational, and independent living, that benefits the individual and community as a whole. (b) (c) (1) “Eligible entity” includes all of the following: (A) A nonprofit organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or from state income taxation under Section 23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code and that has a strong demonstrated financial record evidencing compliance. A nonprofit organization may be a faith-based organization, to the extent permitted by law. (B) A public or nonprofit institution of higher education. (C) An Indian tribe or tribal organization. (2) An eligible entity shall work in partnership with at least one local educational agency and one social service agency located within the area served by the place-based partnerships. (3) An eligible entity may also work with one or more of the following entities located within the area served by the place-based partnerships: (A) A local government agency. (B) Health organizations. (C) Another eligible entity. (c) (d) “Grant program” means the California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Schools Incentive Grant Program. (d) (e) “Neighborhood partnership” includes nonprofit and faith-based networks that serve geographically defined areas or neighborhoods based on the level of distress in that area as set by indicators of need. The application may propose to serve multiple, noncontiguous areas. Services provided by these networks may include food, housing assistance, access to benefits, mental health, job training, legal services, financial literacy, early childhood development, parenting support, after school enhanced learning, and youth empowerment. (e) (f) “Place-based partnership” includes neighborhood partnerships partnerships, Promise Neighborhoods, and regional partnerships. (g) “Promise Neighborhood” or “PN” means a targeted geographic area served by the Promise Neighborhoods program authorized by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 (Public Law 114-95), which focuses on revitalizing economically disadvantaged communities through the establishment of a cradle-to-career network of services aimed at improving the health, safety, and education of the occupants in the defined area. (f) (h) “Regional partnership” supports multiple populations in neighborhoods, cities, counties, and regions by addressing root cause factors behind poverty, institutional misalignment, and opportunities for meaningful community engagement necessary to ensure that equitable outcomes are achieved at scale. These partnerships seek systems change and community engagement, develop evidence-based strategies, and, where strategies prove successful, promote adoption in the full region. 8302. (a) (1) The California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Schools Incentive Grant Program is hereby established to be administered by the State Department of Social Services or another department within the California Health and Human Services Agency, as designated by the Secretary of California Health and Human Services. (2) The purpose of the grant program is to support educational outcomes, reduce child poverty poverty, and advance economic mobility for children and families disproportionately affected by intergenerational poverty by supporting place-based partnerships that align services, address systemic barriers, and improve long-term outcomes through all of the following solutions: (A) Increase community health and safety. (B) Provide cradle-to-career access to high-quality education and care. (C) Connect residents to quality jobs and in-demand occupations. (D) Enable family-sustaining income and access to affordable high-quality housing, childcare, and health care, including reproductive, maternal, behavioral, and mental health care. (E) Provide high-quality support for high-need populations, such as children with disabilities, children experiencing disparity gaps in school performance based on income or racial or ethnic disaggregation, foster youth, child welfare, and justice-involved youth and young adults. (F) Connect individuals to state programs. (G) Leverage federal, local, and private funding for the place-based partnership. (3) Grants shall be awarded to eligible entities that are place-based partnerships. (4) It is the intent of the Legislature that programs in the continuum should improve academic achievement and equitable social outcomes, including improving outcomes of early development, child and youth social and health development, and college and career readiness, as well as build strong family and community supports to help families move out of poverty. (b) (1) The department, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education, shall develop an application process for eligible entities to apply for the grants. (2) The department shall aim to achieve geographic equity by giving priority to applicants serving remote communities, including rural and tribal communities, through the selection process. 8303. For the 2026–27 and 2027–28 fiscal years, the department shall competitively award grants to place-based partnerships, partnerships across the state to be expended in accordance with the activities specified in Section 8304. 8304. (a) Each implementation grant recipient under this chapter shall use the grant funds for all of the following activities: (1) Regional or neighborhood partnership development, The development of neighborhood partnerships, Promise Neighborhoods, or regional partnerships, which may include all of the following: (A) Identifying a community lead organization and building local capacity. (B) Convening partner organizations. (C) Engaging community residents. (D) Analyzing existing local data. (2) Plan development, which may include all of the following: (A) Solidifying partnerships. (B) Conducting community asset mapping and a needs assessment. (C) Engaging in community-driven planning and prioritization processes. (D) Developing a plan to implement place-based solutions that address at least two of the purposes of the program listed under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8302. (3) Implementation, which may include all of the following: (A) Launching the approved plan. (B) Leveraging additional federal, state, local, or private funding streams. (C) Conducting progress monitoring and continuous improvement activities. (D) Engaging community residents on an ongoing basis. (E) Implementing the cradle-to-career services based on results of the needs analysis described in the application and plans to build system and organizational capacity. (F) Continuously evaluating the success of the program and improve the program based on data and outcomes. (b) Grant recipients developing new or expanded longitudinal data systems shall coordinate and align their data collection and reporting with the Cradle-to-Career Data System. 8305. (a) The department shall establish performance standards to measure progress on indicators and results relevant to the evaluation of the grant program. (b) (1) The State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the State Department of Social Services, shall establish a core set of academic results and indicators by which the grant recipients will be measured. (2) The department shall establish a core set of family and community support results and indicators by which the grant recipient will be measured. A grant recipient shall choose to measure and report on two or more family and community support results and indicators. (c) The department, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education, shall also establish at least two indicators related to health, social and emotional development, mental health, and wellness. A grant recipient may choose to report on additional social or socioemotional indicators, drawn from either of the following: (1) Existing surveys, including the California Healthy Kids Survey or the YouthTruth Student Survey. (2) Other sources, as determined by the eligible entity and their partner agencies. (d) The department may establish other engagement, academic, and social indicators. 8306. Each grant recipient shall prepare and submit an annual report to the department that shall include both of the following: (a) Information about the number and percentage of children, family members, and community members in the area served by the place-based partnerships who are served by the grant recipient, including a description of the number and percentage of children accessing each of the pipeline services and the number of family and community members served by each program. (b) Disaggregated data at population and program levels related to the grant recipient’s program’s success in annual growth along program and project indicators. To the extent feasible, data should be disaggregated by all of the following: (1) Gender. (2) Major racial and ethnic groups. (3) Disability status. (4) Economic disadvantage status. (5) Information relating to the performance metrics. (c) The data provided shall meet, at a minimum, all of the following requirements and prohibitions: (1) A program participant identified to share data pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be able to provide their separate and distinct consent to the grant recipient for their provided data to be shared with the State Department of Social Services for the sole purpose of the evaluation of the grant program. (2) The provided data shall not include any personally identifiable information. (3) The provided data, with the separate and distinct consent of the grant recipient’s program’s participants, shall not be shared with any other entity or used for any purpose other than those specified in this chapter. (4) The provided data shall be subject to all applicable privacy laws. (5) No other data elements shall be collected that significantly differ from the data elements specified and authorized in this section without prior authorization from the Legislature. (d) The department shall enforce data privacy and protection policies with all grant recipients. 8307. The department, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education, may establish an appropriate method, process, and structure for grant management, fiscal accountability, payments to grant recipients, and technical assistance and supports for grant recipients that ensures transparency and accountability in the use of state funds. The department may, at its discretion, contract with one or more entities, including, but not limited to, community development financial intermediaries, state financial entities, or other community-based organizations, for these purposes. 8308. Notwithstanding any other law, and to the extent permitted by federal law, funds utilized by grant recipients to provide guaranteed income payments pursuant to this chapter shall not be considered as income or assets when determining eligibility and benefit amount for any means-tested program, including, but not limited to, CalWORKs, CalFresh, General Assistance, Medi-Cal, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP), or Adoption Assistance Program (AAP), and Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), and any scholarships scholarship for public colleges and universities, including, but not limited to, Cal Grant awards, Chafee grant awards, Middle Class Scholarship Program awards, California College Promise Grants, California State University Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) grants, Community College Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) grants, and grants from the University of California, upon approval by the Regents of the University of California, or California State University. 8309. Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department, in consultation with the State Department of Education, may implement, interpret, or make specific this chapter without taking any regulatory action. 8310. (a) Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this chapter are exempt from the personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code. (b) Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this chapter are exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual, and are not subject to the approval of the Department of General Services. 8311. Implementation of this chapter shall be subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of this chapter.