One in four Calif. families has a child with special health care need

PALO ALTO, California — Nearly one in four families in California has a child with a special health care need, totaling over one million children.

Additionally, over 280,000 children ages 0-17 years old had at least one major disability in 2011-2015. For state legislative districts around the Shasta/Cascade, High Sierra, and Gold Country regions, between 3.7% and 5.2% of children had major disabilities compared with under 3.7% in other districts during this period.

The latest data on children with major disabilities by legislative district and by county, city and school district can be found in Kidsdata.org. Also available are data on special education enrollment by disability and race/ethnicity, the number of active California Children’s Services (CCS) enrollees by age group, and the percentage of insured and uninsured children who have major disabilities.

Children with special health care needs and their families face many challenges. For example, health care and other necessary support services generally are provided in an uncoordinated manner, and families are left to navigate the fragmented system on their own.

For children of color, low-income families, and families living in rural areas, the challenges are greater. Programs like CCS are crucial to helping children with special health care needs.

Learn how the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health is improving the system of care for California children: lpfch.org/cshcn.