What Los Angeles County families with young children say about the end of pandemic-era supports

A previous fact sheet on California families with young children provided insights on access to and engagement with Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and child care support programs. In this fact sheet, we report on similar insights with data collected from families with young children in Los Angeles County (LA), the most-populated county in California.

Download the complete fact sheet for direct quotes from survey participants and more.

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In response to the pandemic, in March 2020 Congress temporarily increased several public support programs. This included Medicaid coverage (Medi-Cal in California) and food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California). A federal provision required states to keep all enrollees continuously enrolled in Medicaid and allowed for an increase of at least $95 a month to help families purchase food.

Three years later, the federal government ended these protections. Beginning April 1, 2023, Medi-Cal enrollees were asked to renew their Medi-Cal coverage in order to keep their health insurance. CalFresh recipients received their final monthly allotment in March 2023. These rollbacks came as the costs of food and other essentials were rising dramatically.

In addition to health insurance and food support programs, California offers assistance in paying for child care for families who qualify.

Medi-Cal requirements were unclear to half of Los Angeles families

RAPID surveyed LA families from April to September 2023, the six-month period after continuous Medi-Cal coverage ended. Nearly 70% of the families reported enrollment in Medi-Cal, which aligns with rates in our statewide surveys (71%).

Fifty percent of the LA families enrolled in Medi-Cal were not aware that continuous coverage was ending and that they would need to re-enroll to have their coverage continue. This is higher than our statewide surveys, where just 25% of families enrolled in Medi-Cal were unaware that they would need to re-enroll in the benefit to renew coverage.

While enrollment in Medi-Cal was high across both lower-income and middle-income LA families, lack of awareness of the renewal requirements varied by income levels. Sixty-four percent of middle-income LA families enrolled in Medi-Cal were not aware of the renewal requirements, compared to 44% of lower-income LA families. RAPID will continue to survey families about their Medi-Cal use to gain more insights into these results.

Most Los Angeles County families who receive CalFresh were aware of the decrease in benefits

Nearly 75% of LA families reported enrollment in CalFresh, which aligns with enrollment among California families (74%) in our statewide surveys.

More than 90% of the LA families enrolled in CalFresh were aware of the end of the extra allotments.

This is lower than our statewide surveys, where more than 98% of the California families enrolled in CalFresh were aware of the end of the extra allotments.

RAPID data show high enrollment in CalFresh and similar levels of awareness of changes to the benefit across both lower-income and middle-income LA families.

Many Los Angeles County families access child care assistance, but affordability remains a challenge

Sixty-five percent of LA families applied for child care assistance and 80% of these families received the assistance.

Of the LA families who did not apply for child care assistance, 40% reported that they were unsure if their family was eligible. Another 23% of those who did not apply reported that they were told that their family was not eligible.

Thirty-seven percent of the families who received the child care assistance said that child care was not affordable, even with the assistance. Notably, middle-income LA families who received child care assistance were more likely than the lower-income LA families who received assistance to say that child care continued to be unaffordable.

Conclusion

Many Los Angeles County families with young children rely on public support programs such as Medi-Cal and CalFresh, and many are interested in additional support for child care. The data show that more work is needed to reach families with young children in LA with information about the availability of these support programs.

RAPID data show that nearly half of California families with young children have had difficulty paying for basic needs, such as food and healthcare. Providing continuous health coverage to parents and young children and increasing support to buy food can help reduce the hardship many are experiencing. The termination of expanded benefits will likely mean that material hardship will persist for families who are already struggling and increase the rate of hardship among families in LA.

RAPID will continue to gather information from parents about their enrollment in and experiences with these programs, as well as their economic and emotional well-being.