Child Savings Accounts
Amplifying Early Wealth-Building Programs – also commonly referred to as Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) – is one of NCCPC’s four Policy Priorities.
We are committed to this work because Early Wealth-Building Accounts leverage financial resources and strategic partnerships to help equip our young people for post-secondary success. We are working to ensure that all eligible youth and their families are aware of and can easily access these critical resources for their post-secondary education and success.
Early wealth accounts are financial tools designed to help young people build assets, develop a college-bound mindset, and foster hope for the future. Research spanning three decades demonstrates that even modest savings in a child’s account can positively impact their educational, developmental, and economic outcomes.
California offers to our communities 15 locally-operated child savings account (CSA) programs (see below), CalKIDS – the nation’s largest state-run CSA program, and the forthcoming HOPE Trust Account program for young people in foster care and who are low-income and have lost a parent to COVID. These early wealth initiatives currently provide over 5.4 million young people with accounts holding $2.2 billion invested for their post-secondary education.
We are committed to expanding awareness of and engagement with all of these resources for our students. We do this by promoting policies that make these early wealth-building programs more broadly accessible and by providing information and outreach support to our NCCPC network.
CalKIDS: California’s state CSA program
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 public school students from income-eligible families enrolled in grades 1-12 in the 2021-22 school year ($500); and all first-grade public school students from income-eligible families enrolled in the 2022-23 school year and beyond ($500). Additional funds are available for students in foster care (+$500) and students experiencing housing instability (+$500).
As of July 2025, 5.4 million children in California have a CalKIDS account with funds for their college education. California families have claimed 700,000 CalKIDS accounts, each with up to $1,500 for college or career training. The best part? There might be one available for you or your child! Don’t wait—check your eligibility and claim an account by visiting CalKIDS.org today!
For more information about CalKIDS, click here.
Local Child Savings Account Programs in California
California has 15 locally-operated child savings account programs. As of February 2025, these locally operated CSA programs are providing 180,000 children and youth with over $26 million invested for their college futures. To learn about any of these organizations and the communities they serve, please explore their websites via the links below:
California Child Savings Account Coalition
A member and strategic partner with NCCPC, 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 and youth. The CSA Coalition promotes best practices in outreach and engagement, influences policy and program design, and facilitates knowledge and resource sharing across public, nonprofit, and community partners. It works to increase participation, improve program alignment, and build long-term capacity. For more information contact info@CalCSAcoalition.org.
California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan June 2025
The California Child Savings Account Coalition in partnership with the California State Treasurer’s Office and the CalKIDS Institute at UCLA, and funded by The BlackRock Foundation, led a collaborative strategic planning process to develop the California Early Wealth Accounts System (CEWAS) Plan.
The purpose of this plan is to align public, philanthropic and nonprofit leaders around strategies to expand awareness, access and engagement in CalKIDS, local CSA programs and HOPE Accounts. We seek to ensure that young Californians, particularly those facing barriers to opportunity, fully benefit from all of the wealth-building resources available to them, because these are powerful resources for their futures.
The California Early Wealth Partnership, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, was established to support implementation of the strategies outlined in the Plan. For more information, contact info@earlywealthpartnership.org.
CA Child Savings Account Toolkit
NCCPC created a CA Child Savings Account (CSA) Toolkit for its members, partners, supporters, and the public, which includes information about CalKIDS and locally managed CSA programs. Here you will find a wealth of tools and resources for outreach and engagement. This toolkit is designed for nonprofits; elementary, middle and high school staff and leaders; and post secondary education institutions. The CalKIDS program also has a number of excellent outreach and marketing tools. You can find the CalKIDS Marketing Toolkits here. Lastly for the latest information on CalKIDS accounts and claiming by county please see this CalKIDS Claiming Data Worksheet, updated quarterly by the California Treasurer’s Office.