Governor Newsom, send our kids home and save $175 million in annual Medi-Cal costs.

Sign the petition urging the Governor to fully fund Private Duty Nursing for California’s medically fragile children

Sign the Petition

California’s sickest kids are stuck in hospitals because the state won’t fund enough nurses to care for them at home. Families are separated, and taxpayers pay more. Sign the petition and tell Governor Newsom to fix it. 

Add your name. Tell Governor Newsom to fund home nursing for California kids.

Your name will be added to our letter to the Governor and state legislature.

To make sure her 3-year-old daughter survived the night on her ventilator, Amber Suarez routinely stayed awake for four hours, then woke up her husband to watch Mia for another four hours as the girl dozed.

It had already been months since the family lost a nurse who assisted them during the day, which meant Suarez had been caring for her disabled daughter since the morning, juggling the needs of Mia and her twin sister, Savannah. She feeds her through a gastrostomy tube, administers breathing treatments, and suctions out fluid from the tube that helps her breathe.

Tell Governor Newsom: Amber‘s family shouldn’t have to do this alone

California Kids Belong at Home — Not in Hospitals

Families in California have long struggled to get nursing care at home for medically fragile children. Even after doctors have deemed home care necessary to keep their kids healthy and safe, many Californians have been unable to secure enough nurses to fill their allocated hours.

The goal of the Medi-Cal Home and Community Based Services program, especially Private Duty Nursing (PDN) services, is to keep medically fragile Californians, particularly our children, in their homes — the setting that promotes their highest quality of life, allowing them the opportunity to be with their families and engage in their communities — and out of more expensive institutional settings.

Sign the Petition

Home nursing costs less than a hospital bed. And it keeps families together.

Let your representatives know you support adequate funding for Home & Community-Based Health Care Services (HCBS).

Sign the Petition

These types of specialized medical treatments should only take place in the hospital, acute care facility, or in the home with a skilled private duty nurse.

Underfunding private duty nursing in the state not only puts these fragile patients at risk but also forces their parents and families to work to fill all the hours that the state doesn’t provide – ultimately removing parents from the workforce.

Keeping children at home and providing support for their parents is critical for California to allow families to remain together.

Sign the Petition

Home & Community Health Care Services Benefits Our Families

Support for our service providers’ commitment to our families and California:

  • Years before the pandemic, the California Department of Health Care Services found in one study that 29% of home nursing hours authorized through a Medi-Cal program for children were not being filled. Since the onset of COVID-19, these hours have become increasingly harder to fill and made care that much harder on California families.
  • Please join the California Association for Health Services at Home and the California Children’s Hospital Association to support more Home-based health care services for California’s most vulnerable patients and their families.
Download PDN Support Letter
Invest in PDN Nurses
PDN Issue Fiscal Analysis (Revisted)
PDN Fiscal Analysis Executive Summary

Help us help drive engagement and action

Download the Social Media Toolkit below and click on any of the included posts and share to your personal and professional platforms. channels. Customize and tailor our posts to make them your own but don’t forget to add the #CAneedsPDN hashtag to all of your posts, and engage with us via your personal and/or organizational accounts.

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