We are thrilled to celebrate the passage of SB 119, signed into law on July 29, 2025. This landmark social services trailer bill amends the California Welfare and Institutions Code and represents a visible, powerful endorsement of the work of the Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting Task Force—a transformational initiative advanced in partnership with CA Health & Human Services, CA Department of Social Services, and the Prevention & Early Intervention Committee.
Safe & Sound is at the forefront of efforts to reimagine mandated reporting systems in California. In 2022, we authored the issue brief Creating a Child & Family Well-Being System: A Paradigm Shift from Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting, which laid out a roadmap to shift from the current reporting model to a supportive, community-based approach.
Building on this foundation, we led the successful passage of California Assembly Bill 2085, which amended California law to ensure that poverty alone is not treated as “general neglect”—a critical step toward reducing the overreporting of low-income families, particularly those identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
As a core member and facilitator of the statewide Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting Task Force, Safe & Sound continues to drive this systemic change, helping lead the development and implementation of 14 reform recommendations presented to the California Child Welfare Council, three of which are delivered through the passage of SB 119.
✅ Mandated Reporting Advisory Committee (MRAC)
For the first time in law, a Mandated Reporting Advisory Committee (MRAC) shall be established by the California Child Welfare Council. It is the intent of the Legislature that the MRAC ensure the transformation of mandated reporting to community supporting continues and disparities in the child welfare system are eliminated. (Delivering on Task Force Recommendation 1)
✅ Comprehensive Prevention Plans (CPPs)
When counties update their Comprehensive Prevention Plans, the update shall include the county’s plans to provide information for mandated reporters regarding the resources available to support families in their communities. This helps to ensure that families can be connected to early, community-focused interventions, not unnecessary surveillance. (Delivering on Task Force Recommendation 12)
✅ Mandated Reporter Training Reform
The law requires that the development of the new statewide mandated reporter training incorporate content identified in the Task Force recommendations. Critically, the training must be developed in partnership with individuals with lived expertise, county child welfare agencies, and other stakeholders, bringing real-world insight to a system in urgent need of change. (Delivering on Task Force Recommendation 9)
This is more than a policy win: it’s a turning point. By embedding Task Force recommendations into statute, California has signaled its long-term commitment to shifting from a system rooted in reporting and punishment toward one grounded in support, equity, and community trust.
The passage of SB 119 proves that systemic transformation is not only possible, it’s happening.
A huge thank you to the California Child Welfare Council, the CA Department of Social Services, the Prevention & Early Intervention Committee, members of the former MRCS Task Force, members of the current Mandated Reporting Advisory Committee, our legislative champions, and everyone who has pushed this work forward.
We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the child welfare system. Most notably is new federal policy—the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)—that allows for federal dollars to be used to support families in which children are at “imminent risk” of entry into foster care. This pending policy and practice shift requires the creation of “community pathways” that allow families to access services and support without fear of over-reporting to Child Protectives Services (CPS).
In support of these changes, Safe & Sound, a community-based organization dedicated to strengthening families and ending child abuse invites you to read Creating a Child & Family Well-Being System: A Paradigm Shift from Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting—and support the recommendations.
The proposed paradigm shift from mandated reporting to community supporting is not a new idea, but one that has been proposed and championed by advocates, social workers, researchers, philanthropists, pediatricians, educators, and others across the country who have been informed by deep listening to families with lived expertise in the child welfare system.
What does the data tell us about mandated reporting in California?
432,736 children were subject to a CPS investigation between April 2021 – March 2022
56,079 children were found to be maltreated
This means only 13% of reports by mandated reporters are substantiated
This brief offers action steps in these five categories
For more information on how to take action
| In case you missed it, on August 25th we hosted a Lunch & Learn on this topic as part of our series on The Facts and Faces of Prevention. Here is a link to the session recording, and we hope you will share it with your colleagues to expand the conversation on these much-needed reforms. Type in the passcode: %@f1KA%K WATCH THE RECORDING |
We welcome your feedback! Please let us know if you have any questions or other feedback to share from reading this brief by emailing us (communityaction@safeandsound.org).
In gratitude for your support of children and families.
Katie Albright
Chief Executive Officer
Safe & Sound
