2025-26 Legislative Session: New Laws in Health and Human Services Policy Area
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Throughout the 2025-26 Legislative Session, CSAC has kept you informed about key legislative developments. With Governor Newsom’s final actions now complete, CSAC will publish a series of articles highlighting new laws in each policy area. This week, our focus is on the Health & Human Services policy area.
For additional information, please contact Justin Garrett or Danielle Bradley.
Aging
AB 1069 (Bains) (Chapter 445, Statutes of 2025)
Older adults: emergency shelters. Requires a representative of each county welfare director to initiate an MOU with an Area Agency on Aging (AAA), Independent Living Center (ILC), or Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) program to allow access by these organizations to an emergency shelter during an active event.
AB 1476 (Wallis) (Chapter 302, Statutes of 2025)
Meal program: senior citizens. Allows sites that administer nutrition projects pursuant to the McCarthy-Kennick Nutrition Program for the Elderly Act of 1972 to allow for hot meals to be available to be picked up and eaten at home in a virtual congregate setting. The measure also removes the requirement that any additional meals provided have the recommended dietary allowances.
Behavioral Health
AB 348 (Krell) (Chapter 688, Statutes of 2025)
Full-service partnerships. Beginning January 1, 2027, this measure establishes criteria for individuals with a serious mental illness to be presumptively eligible for a full-service partnership (FSP). The criteria include individuals who are: (1) experiencing unsheltered homelessness; (2) are transitioning to the community after six or more months in a secured treatment setting, residential setting, state prison, or county jail; or, (3) has been detained five or more times pursuant to Section 5150 over the last five years. However, the measure specifies that a county is not required to enroll an individual if doing so would conflict with Medi-Cal obligations, court orders, or would exceed county FSP capacity or funding.
AB 416 (Krell) (Chapter 691, Statutes of 2025)
Involuntary commitment. Requires a county behavioral health director to include emergency physicians as a practice discipline to be designated by the county when it develops procedures for designating and training professionals to initiate involuntary detentions. CSAC opposed a previous version of this measure, but CSAC removed opposition to AB 416 after amendments were taken to clarify that this change does not affect the designation revocation process.
AB 492 (Valencia) (Chapter 368, Statutes of 2025)
Alcohol and drug programs: licensing. Requires DHCS, when issuing a license to operate an alcohol or other drug recovery treatment facility, to concurrently provide written notification of the issuance of the license to the city or county in which the facility is located.
AB 1037 (Elhawary) (Chapter 569, Statutes of 2025)
Public health: substance use disorder. Among other provisions to modernize substance use disorder (SUD) licensing and public health laws, this measure prohibits DHCS from requiring alcohol or other drug (AOD) recovery and treatment facilities (RTFs) to obtain admission agreements that require a person to be abstinent and not intoxicated in order to be admitted to care or continue treatment.
SB 27 (Umberg) (Chapter 528, Statutes of 2025)
Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program. Makes numerous changes to the CARE Act, including changes to program eligibility, how respondents are referred, and the CARE Act court hearing process. Notably, the measure expands the eligibility criteria to qualify for CARE to include those with bipolar I disorder with psychotic features, except for psychosis related to current intoxication.
CalWORKs, CalFresh, and Public Social Services
AB 42 (Bryan) (Chapter 430, Statutes of 2025)
CalWORKs: CalFresh: eligibility: income and resource exclusions. Exempts higher education grants, awards, scholarships, loans, and fellowship benefits provided to CalFresh and CalWORKs beneficiaries from being considered income or resources for the purpose of determining benefit eligibility or awards, to the extent allowed by federal law.
AB 79 (Arambula) (Chapter 607, Statutes of 2025)
Public social services: higher education. Requires county human services agencies to seek input from higher education basic needs coordinators about the protocol for engagement between the agency and campus about CalFresh, CalWORKs, and other county administered benefits. Additionally, this measure requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to create a training for basic needs coordinators, convene a workgroup to share best practices, and submit an annual report to the Legislature.
AB 320 (Bennett) (Chapter 686, Statutes of 2025)
Public social services: eligibility: income exclusions. Prohibits any compensation given to a student member of a county board of education or school district governing board from being considered as income or an asset for the purposes of determining eligibility or awards for means-tested programs, including CalWORKs, General Assistance, and Medi-Cal.
AB 593 (Wicks) (Chapter 698, Statutes of 2025)
CalFresh: data sharing. Clarifies that CDSS may identify data-sharing opportunities with state and local public entities for the purposes of improving the administration of CalFresh, increasing CalFresh participation, and measuring the impact of CalFresh.
AB 607 (Rodriguez) (Chapter 376, Statutes of 2025)
CalWORKs: Home Visiting Program. Extends the allowable duration time for participation in the CalWORKs Home Visting Program to allow for completion of the applicable home visiting model. CSAC supported AB 607.
AB 969 (Rodriguez) (Chapter 386, Statutes of 2025)
CalWORKs: family violence option and gender-based violence information. Makes various changes to the CalWORKs Family Violence Option, including requiring CDSS to update the protocols to serve families who are or who have been victims of domestic violence and requires counties to waive CalWORKs program requirements for good cause unless there is evidence the applicant does not need a waiver.
SB 146 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) (Chapter 107, Statutes of 2025)
Human Services. In addition to establishing a new complaint procedure for the CalWORKs Housing Support, Home Safe, Bringing Families Home, and Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Programs, this trailer bill includes a new, one-time $3.2 million General Fund appropriation to the CDSS for automation related to reducing the CalFresh payment error rate and implementation of the program’s new requirements established by H.R. 1. The measure also requires CDSS to begin consulting with stakeholders immediately and continuing through the duration of multiyear activities to reduce the CalFresh payment error rate and perform automation.
Child Welfare Services & Foster Care
AB 349 (Dixon) (Chapter 143, Statutes of 2025)
Foster care supplement. Requires, beginning July 1, 2026, that the rate paid to cover the cost of care and supervision of a child of a foster youth, also known as the infant supplement, be adjusted by an amount equal to the California Necessities Index.
AB 562 (Solache) (Chapter 436, Statutes of 2025)
Foster care: placement: family finding. Beginning January 1, 2027, requires each county to annually review publicly available data comparing the statewide average rate of placing children with relatives and the county’s average rate of placement. For counties with an average rate that is less than the statewide average, the county must consult with the Center for Excellence to identify best practices that may improve the county’s average rate.
AB 779 (Lackey) (Chapter 381, Statutes of 2025)
Child welfare services: domestic violence consultant pilot program. Authorizes counties to establish a three-year pilot program, after consulting with CDSS, in which the county partners with a domestic violence consultant to offer support and guidance to county social workers.
AB 890 (Lee) (Chapter 281, Statutes of 2025)
Nonminor dependents: county of residence. Revises the residency requirements for foster youth participating in the extended foster care program by creating guidelines for the court to determine when a change of jurisdiction would be in the best interest of the nonminor dependent.
AB 896 (Elhawary) (Chapter 564, Statutes of 2025)
Foster care: placement transition planning. Requires CDSS to issue guidance on best practices and strategies for supporting foster children who are transitioning between placement settings, as well as requires each county child welfare agency to adopt placement transition policies. CSAC supported AB 896.
AB 898 (Bryan) (Chapter 716, Statutes of 2025)
The Family Urgent Response System. Permits county-based mobile response teams to dispatch teams without requiring a state-level dispatch when the teams are not responding to calls placed through the statewide Family Urgent Response System (FURS) hotline. This measure also permits counties to utilize their FURS teams to support families who are receiving family preservation and voluntary or court-ordered family maintenance services. CSAC supported AB 898.
AB 1314 (Ahrens) (Chapter 187, Statutes of 2025)
Transitional housing placement providers. Requires counties and Transitional Housing Placement (THP) Program contracts to ensure that room sharing decisions are led by program participants and are agreed upon in collaboration with the THP provider. The measure also requires county contracts to be developed to provide maximum flexibility to meet the needs of the minor dependents and non-minor dependents served by the program.
Homelessness
AB 790 (Ávila Farías) (Chapter 499, Statutes of 2025)
Homelessness: single women with children. Requires counties, cities, and continuums of care to provide all analyses or goals required by the Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations (HELP) Act to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH).
SB 131 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2025)
Public Resources. Among other provisions, the budget trailer bill establishes Round 7 of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program (HHAP). The language provides for $500 million for Round 7 effective July 1, 2026, which is half of the funding allocated annually in recent years. SB 131 also requires future legislation to be enacted prior to the distribution of funding, including language that considers the following requirements for applicants:
- Having a compliant housing element
- Having a local encampment policy consistent with administration guidance
- Having a prohousing designation
- Leveraging local resources to scale state investments
- Demonstrating progress on key housing performance metrics
- Demonstrating urgency and measurable results in housing and homelessness prevention.
Additionally, SB 131 requires that, prior to the distribution of Round 7 funding to an applicant, HCD must have completed the initial disbursement of Round 6 funds to an applicant, and the applicant must have obligated at least 50% of its total Round 6 funding.
SB 158 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) (Chapter 650, Statutes of 2025)
Land use. Among other provisions, this measure requires HCD to prepare to administer Round 7 of HHAP with the goal to disburse funding beginning September 1, 2026. CSAC requested that funding be available under Round 7 as quickly as possible to minimize disruptions to homelessness programs currently supported by previous rounds of HHAP funding.
SB 634 (Pérez) (Chapter 521, Statutes of 2025)
Local government: homelessness. Prohibits a local jurisdiction from adopting or enforcing a local ordinance that prohibits a person or organization from providing support services to a person who is homeless or assisting a person who is homeless with any act related to basic survival.
SB 748 (Richardson) (Chapter 524, Statutes of 2025)
Encampment Resolution Funding program: safe parking sites: reporting. Permits local jurisdictions applying for funding under the Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) program to include safe parking sites in their application and creates additional reporting requirements for these sites.
In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
AB 118 (Committee on Budget) (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2025)
Human Services. Among many provisions in the human services budget trailer bill, this measure shifts the costs of certain IHSS late assessment penalties from the state to counties. These penalties relate to the Community First Choice Option (CFCO) component of IHSS that provides an enhanced federal match. AB 118 requires the state and counties to split the cost of these penalties in 2025-26, and for counties to pay the full cost starting in 2026-27. The May Revision would have shifted the full cost to counties starting in 2025-26, and CSAC opposed that proposal. The trailer bill outlines that counties will owe this amount separate from the maintenance of effort, pay for the months in which the enhanced payment is not received, and that guidance on implementation of this process will be developed in consultation with CWDA.
SB 156 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) (Chapter 110, Statutes of 2025)
Labor. This trailer bill contains several In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provisions related to overtime hours requirements, allowing alternate payroll and deduction processing methods, and shortening timeframes within the collective bargaining mediation and factfinding process. CSAC opposed the changes to the mediation and fact-finding process.
Medi-Cal, Public Health, and Health Services
AB 144 (Committee on Budget) (Chapter 105, Statutes of 2025)
Health. Implements a wide range of health-related provisions to the 2025 Budget Act. Specifically, it would expand state healthcare and immunization authority, prepare for the 2028 Olympics, expand access to gender affirming care and reproductive services, and reduce administrative burdens across departments, among other provisions. Notably, the measure exempts foster youth and nonminor dependents with unsatisfactory immigration status from the Medi-Cal monthly premium and service limitations enacted in the 2025 Budget Act. Additionally, these individuals will remain eligible for full scope of Medi-Cal benefits until their 26th birthday. CSAC joined a coalition in support of the provisions related to immunizations.
AB 309 (Zbur) (Chapter 685, Statutes of 2025)
Hypodermic needles and syringes. Deletes the January 1, 2026, repeal date on existing law that permits physicians and pharmacists to furnish hypodermic needles and syringes without a prescription to people 18 years and older.
AB 543 (González) (Chapter 374, Statutes of 2025)
Medi-Cal: field medicine. Requires Medi-Cal managed care plans who elect to contract with field medicine providers to allow Medi-Cal recipients experiencing homelessness to receive services from a contracted, in-network field provider regardless of the recipients’ network assignment. The measure also authorizes field medicine providers to make direct referrals for Medi-Cal covered services within the managed care network, ensuring clients experiencing homelessness have access to necessary medications, diagnostic services, and durable medical equipment. Finally, this measure requires DHCS, by January 1, 2027, to include an optional question for applicants to California’s insurance affordability programs to indicate if they are experiencing homelessness at the time of application. CSAC supported AB 543.
AB 592 (Gabriel) (Chapter 469, Statutes of 2025)
Business: retail food. Expands the definition of food facilities to allow for open windows, folding doors, or non-fixed store fronts during operation if the restaurant submits an integrated pest management and food safety plan to the local enforcement agency. Additionally, the measure prohibits a local enforcement agency from unreasonably withholding approval of a proposed pest management and food safety risk mitigation plan.
AB 645 (Carrillo) (Chapter 273, Statutes of 2025)
Emergency medical services: dispatcher training. By January 1, 2027, require public safety agencies that provide 911 call processing services for emergency medical response to provide prearrival medical instructions to callers, including airway and choking medical instructions for infants, children, and adults, and administration of naloxone. Additionally, the measure requires the local emergency medical director to approve the prearrival medical instructions.
AB 870 (Hadwick) (Chapter 167, Statues of 2025)
California Children’s Services Program: county designation. Authorizes counties with a total population under 2,000 persons (Alpine County) to designate another county to administer the California Children’s Services (CCS) Program if the other county agrees, and if neither county is a Whole Child Model county. CSAC supported AB 870.
AB 1003 (Calderon) (Chapter 537, Statutes of 2025)
Public health: emergency plans and wildfire research. Requires the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), by June 30, 2027, to complete a plan with recommendations and guidelines for counties to use in case of a significant air quality event. This measure also requires the CDPH plan and county specific plans to incorporate a process for outreach, communication, and distribution among key stakeholders, including county health departments and public health officers.
AB 1288 (Addis) (Chapter 297, Statutes of 2025)
Registered environmental health specialists. Extends the amount of time a local health department may employ a registered environmental health specialist (REHS) training from three years to five years and makes additional changes to expand the REHS workforce. CSAC supported AB 1288.
SB 504 (Laird) (Chapter 766, Statutes of 2025)
Communicable diseases: HIV reporting. Authorizes a health care provider of a patient with an HIV infection that has already been reported to a local health officer to disclose identifying information about the patient to a local health jurisdiction or the department if the disclosure is necessary to complete or supplement an HIV case report or for the local health jurisdiction or the department to carry out its duties in the investigation, control, or surveillance of disease, or the coordination of, linkage to, or reengagement in care for a person.
SB 660 (Menjivar) (Chapter 325, Statutes of 2025)
California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework. Makes various changes to the Data Exchange Framework (DxF), including shifting responsibility and oversight of DxF from the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) to the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), changes the composition of the stakeholder advisory group, and adds emergency medical services as a required entity to execute data sharing agreements.
Vetoed bills:
AB 689 (Rubio) — VETOED
Foster youth: disaster aid assistance. Would have established a statewide Child Welfare Disaster Response Program to provide funding to support the immediate needs of foster children and youth and their caregivers in disaster-impacted communities. CSAC supported AB 689.
AB 1400 (Soria) — VETOED
Community colleges: Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program. Would have required the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a pilot program to allow up to 10 community college districts to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. CSAC supported AB 1400.