California Child Savings Account Coalition
(CA CSA Coalition)
About the California Child Savings Account Coalition
The California CSA Coalition seeks to improve the educational and economic mobility outcomes of children by improving the quality, scale and alignment of Child Savings Account programs in the state. This work is grounded in a commitment to promoting economic and racial equity in the operations, funding, outreach and engagement strategies of all CSA programs serving our communities.
As of October 1, 2023, NCCPC provides backbone operations for the CA CSA Coalition.
Local Child Savings Account Programs in California
There are currently 15 locally built and operated child savings account programs in California. These are listed below with hyperlinks to their websites:
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First 5 Futures, Sonoma County First Five’s Child Savings Account Program |
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San José Aspires, by San Jose Public Library |
Note that the above is an image. Stay tuned for an interactive map of the members that you can zoom in and out of.
CSA Coalition Members & Leaders
The California Child Savings Account Coalition provides a forum for local CSA programs, CalKIDS, researchers, advocates and other community partners to work together toward a more robust system of early wealth building opportunities (CSAs and others) for our children.
The CA CSA Coalition is led by a Steering Committee:
- Rebecca Loya, Sr. Policy Analyst, San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment (Co-Chair)
- Nik Howard, Executive Director, Reinvent Stockton Foundation (Co-Chair)
- Maria Cadenas, Executive Director & Crystal Gonzalez, Program Director, Santa Cruz Ventures
- Greg Bailey & Joci Kelleher, Program Directors, Oakland Promise
- Patrice Berry, Policy Director, & Jasmine Delafosse, Director of Organizing, End Poverty in California (EPIC)
- John Hogan, Executive Director, Excite Foundation
- Justine Jimenez, Business Manager, City of West Sacramento Home Run
- Mohan Kanungo, Director, San Francisco K2C
- Nayiri Nahabedian, Executive Director, UCLA CalKIDS Institute
- Sonnie Martinez, Program Coordinator, Opportunity LA, City of LA
- Tony Gladney, CSA Program Director, San Juaquin A+
California’s state CSA program, CalKIDS
The state of California, under the leadership of Governor Newsom and with strong legislative leadership, launched CalKIDS, a statewide CSA program, in 2022. CalKIDS provides college savings accounts on the California ScholarShare 529 platform, seeded with an initial contribution from the state for all babies born in California after July 2022 ($100); all low-income public school students enrolled in grades 1-12 in the 2021-22 school year ($500); and all low-income public school students enrolled in the 1st grade in the 2022-23 school year, and every year thereafter ($500). Additional funds are available for students in the foster care system (+$500) and students whose families are homeless (+$500). Already, 3.6 million children have money set aside through CalKIDS!
Helping children, families and communities become aware of their CalKIDS accounts is an important priority.
CA Child Savings Account Toolkit
Help us increase CalKIDS registrations by 10% by the end of 2024!
- Increase the number of students and families who check their eligibility and claim their CalKIDS account by December 2024.
- Provide timely information to students and families about CalKIDS and locally-managed CSA programs in their area.
- Increase the value of students’ CalKIDS accounts because they may also get: an additional $25 when they claim their account, an additional $50 when they connect to a ScholarShare 529 account, and up to an additional $1,000 if they are homeless or foster youth, or both.
- Spur student, parent, and community advocacy to pressure local and state system leaders to improve access to CalKIDS and locally-managed CSA programs.
More about the CA CSA Coalition and NCCPC
Scheduled CA CSA Coalition Events
The full CA CSA Coalition meets every two months, on the first Tuesday of the month at 1:00-2:00 PM. If you would like to receive notices of these meetings, please contact Amanda Feinstein, Director, CA CSA Coalition at CSACoalition @ norcalcollegepromise.org.
