When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrest undocumented immigrants—there were more than 65,000 in custody as of Nov. 16, according to the website tracereports.org—their children are often left behind with no plan in place to care for them.
The Childcare Safety Plan Coalition—a local group of roughly 200 attorneys and volunteers—is working to change that.
Also known as the Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025, it protects children when their families are unexpectedly separated due to immigration enforcement, incarceration or military deployment.
This includes providing legally recognized plans for custody and making sure schools and daycare centers have updated information.
Advocates say that adoption of the Childcare Safety Plans ensures consistency statewide, thus giving parents tools with which to protect their children.
“We are just trying to work to make sure that kids don’t go home to an empty house, or that they don’t end up getting put into foster care before someone can be there for them,” said volunteer Gwen Berliner, who is a retired PVUSD teacher.
Along with the coalition, a group of local nonprofits known as Pajaro Valley Collaborative held a press conference Dec. 8, calling on California Attorney General Rob Bonta to incorporate their Childcare Safety Plans into Assembly Bill 495.
Salud Para La Gente Director of Community Health Services Darlene Torres said that the coalition has completed 817 plans over the past two months.
“What that means is that over 1,400 children now have a plan,” Torres said.
Santa Cruz attorney Tanya Harmony Ridino, who co-founded the coalition, said that Bonta “has always put the needs of our families first … and we are hopeful that his office will move swiftly and decisively to provide hardworking parents across the state the guidance and tools they need to fully and easily benefit from AB 495. California families deserve a simple, accessible path to keep their children safe, and we believe the attorney general is the leader who can make that a reality.”
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Heather Contreras said that schools are more than places for young people to learn.
“They’re safe, stable places where students find belonging, support and hope,” she told the crowd of roughly 80 people.
The ability to learn, Contreras said, hinges on the stability of their families.
“That’s why the CSP is so meaningful,” she said. “It gives families something essential: reassurance during uncertainty and a sense of control in moments no one wants to imagine.”
For information, visit communitybridges.org/csp.
