Climate change and environmental racism are threatening children’s health and exacerbating health disparities in California, posing a public health crisis that will demand increasing attention and resources in the coming years. Kids of color and children living in poverty are more likely to grow up in unhealthy neighborhoods with worse air, water, and infrastructure, and more hazardous facilities and exposure to toxins.

This brief honors and draws inspiration from many decades of work by community organizers and leaders, including Black environmental justice and civil rights advocates, Indigenous leaders, farmworkers’ rights organizers, breast cancer activists, community based organizations, and more. Children Now seeks to build upon the work of these leaders by using expertise in children’s health and state advocacy to lift up and push forward aligned recommendations.