Last week, the California Legislature made a necessary correction to the state budget.
Lawmakers rejected Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $20 million plan to provide every new parent with a three-month supply of diapers at hospital discharge, regardless of income. Instead, they redirected the funds to California’s existing diaper bank network. These programs already serve the families who need help most.
As someone who helps lead one of California’s largest diaper banks, I can tell you that the Legislature made a smart course correction.
At the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, we distributed nearly 9 million diapers last year through trusted partners like shelters, food pantries, and childcare centers. Our program was among the first in California to receive state funding.
Since 2017, diaper banks like ours have distributed over 160 million diapers to more than a million families across the state. Still, demand outpaces supply. Twenty local nonprofits are now on our waitlist, ready to distribute diapers as soon as they’re available.
The governor’s proposed Diaper Access Initiative would have provided about 400 diapers per family starting in 2025, aiming to reach half of all newborns. But it missed the mark in two significant ways.
First, it offered free diapers to many families who don’t need help, while leaving out older children whose families are still struggling. Wealthy families can afford diapers, while struggling ones often cannot. Disposables cost upwards of $100 a month, and one in four parents miss an average of five days of work or school because they don’t have enough diapers to send their child to daycare.
Second, the governor’s plan focused on newborns, even though most diaper need arises later. In 2024, over 75% of the diapers distributed by California’s diaper banks were Size 4 or larger, sizes typically worn by toddlers. At our food bank alone, we distributed 2.2 million Size 6 diapers last year—more than four times the number of newborn-size diapers. As babies grow, so does the cost of diapers. A one-time hospital diaper handout for newborns was not a long-term solution.
This issue is about far more than diapers. It’s about workforce access and opportunity. Since federal welfare reform, many low-income parents must work or attend job training to maintain benefits. In order to work, they need childcare. Licensed childcare providers require families to provide diapers for their children.
But here’s the problem: CalFresh and WIC don’t cover diapers. No diapers, no daycare. No daycare, no job. You might not think of it when looking at the smiling babies on a Pampers box, but access to diapers can help break generational cycles of poverty.
Last year, California’s diaper banks received $9 million in state funding, a cut from prior years. This year, the governor proposed no funding at all. The Legislature rightly reversed course and backed programs already serving more than a million families. Diaper banks across the state applaud the move to keep babies clean and parents in the workforce.
Casey Castillo is the CEO of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank.
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