The initiative will begin this summer
The state of California has teamed up with nonprofit Baby2Baby to provide free diapers across the state.
The program, which kicks off this summer, will equip families with newborns at participating hospitals with 400 diapers at the time of discharge. The first year of the program will focus on hospitals largely serving MediCal patients in order to prioritize low-income families.
“The first days at home with a newborn should be focused on the love, connection, and joy of an expanded family, not stress about affording diapers,” said Kim Johnson, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. “This program helps ensure families can begin that journey with greater stability and peace of mind.”
Over time, the Golden State Start initiative will scale across to an increasing number of hospitals and birthing centers.
“Diapers are at the core of our mission at Baby2Baby as a shocking one in two families in this country struggles to afford them,” said Baby2Baby co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof. “We are incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for his ongoing commitment to combating diaper needs in California and could not be prouder to partner on this historic initiative that will support moms and babies at their most vulnerable time.”
California-based Baby2Baby has distributed more than half a billion essential items over the last 15 years to children in homeless shelters, domestic violence programs, foster care, hospitals and school districts. It serves over a million children across the country, and, notably, was on the ground making Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts within hours of the first fire starting.
According to the organization, diapers cost $80 to $100 per month per baby; the average low-income family pays nearly $1,000 a year for diapers; and diapers are the fourth highest household expense for families with diaper needs.
Baby2Baby will enlist its existing partnerships with hospitals, community-based organizations and Welcome Baby programs across California to helm diaper procurement, warehousing and hospital distribution of the program.
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Golden State Start marks another element of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CalRX, which works to make the likes of insulin and naloxone more affordable.
“California is taking on the cost of raising a family head-on — delivering free school meals, making preschool free for every four-year-old, expanding after-school programs and now making sure parents leave the hospital with the basics their newborn needs,” Newsom said. “Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life – and that means making sure parents have the basics they need from day one.”