The California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan

Scaling Equitable Access to Children’s Savings in California

The California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan

Today, more than 5 million children in California, most from under-resourced families, have $2.2 billion set aside in CalKIDS and local Children’s Savings Account (CSA) programs. An additional $100 million is committed through the HOPE Trust Account Program to support children in foster care or who lost a caregiver to COVID-19. In 2026, a new federal initiative, the Trump Accounts Pilot, will create $1000 investment accounts for newborns.

But most families don’t know these accounts exist.

The California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan offers a bold, actionable framework to expand awareness, access, and engagement—ensuring every eligible child can benefit from the wealth-building opportunities already created.

Cover of the CEWAS Plan PDF

The Problem We’re Solving

Despite bold public investment, significant barriers remain:

  • Millions of families are unaware of available accounts
  • Claiming processes are fragmented and unclear
  • Programs operate in silos, missing opportunities for coordination
  • Infrastructure is underfunded, especially for community outreach

What the Plan Offers

The California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan is California’s first systems-level strategy to align public, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders around a shared goal: helping children build wealth, hope, and opportunity from birth.

Led by the California Child Savings Account Coalition, with the State Treasurer’s Office, UCLA’s CalKIDS Institute, and partners like End Poverty in California and End Child Poverty CA, this effort was supported by seed funding from the BlackRock Foundation.

Between December 2024 and May 2025, the planning team interviewed over 100 stakeholders, mapped existing infrastructure, and identified high-impact strategies to strengthen and align CalKIDS, HOPE and local Child Savings Account programs across the state.

The Final Plan, released in June 2025, includes 30 recommendations and six strategic pillars for action.

A New Vision for Wealth Equity in California

Every child in California deserves a clear, supported path to savings, opportunity, and intergenerational financial security.

The California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan outlines a collaborative, multi-year strategy to deliver on that promise—with coordinated investments in community-based engagement, technology, data systems, and sustainable partnerships.

The Six Pillars of the California Early Wealth Accounts System Plan

01

Partnerships

Reaching California’s diverse population requires trusted messengers. The Plan calls for deep investment in public agencies and community-based organizations (CBOs) that are already serving eligible children and families. Recommendations include:

  • Embedding CalKIDS, HOPE, and CSA engagement into existing public programs
  • Building a broad network of community-based organizations to engage children and families
  • Providing tools, data, and training to support sustained engagement

02

Communications

Effective communication builds trust and drives action. The Plan outlines a statewide strategy to:

  • Create multi-lingual, culturally relevanttoolkits and campaigns

  • Equip parters with customizable outreach materials

  • Coordinate messaging across CalKIDS, HOPE and local CSA programs

03

Accounts & Balances

Designing accounts that work better for families. Early wealth accounts must be easy to claim, understand, and grow. The Plan recommends:

  • Simplifying account claiming processes to reduce drop-off
  • Incentivizing family participation through deposit “boosts” and milestone rewards
  • Encouraging civic and business groups to contribute to children’s accounts
  • Simplifying the use of linked 529 accounts to support family saving

04

Technology

Families face a fragmented digital experience across programs. The Plan calls for:

  • Aligning online portals for CalKIDS, HOPE, and local CSA programs
  • Improving mobile accessibility and user experience
  • Streamlining entry points for claiming and managing accounts

This work will reduce friction, increase engagement, and allow families to navigate systems with confidence.

05

Data

Shared, secure data is key to effective outreach and evaluation. The Plan recommends:

  • Ensuring families have easy access to the data they need to claim their child’s accounts
  • Establishing protocols for secure, cross-program data sharing
  • Using data to track participation, inform strategy, and measure impact

This approach will enable targeted outreach and real-time feedback across the system.

06

Funding & Sustainability

The Plan recognizes that meaningful systems change requires sustained investment. It identifies:

  • Ongoing public funding needs at the state and local level
  • Philanthropic opportunities to support innovation and capacity-building
  • The potential for multi-year, cross-sector collaboration to drive scale and equity

Invest in California’s Financial Futures

Partner with the Early Wealth Partnership. Your investment will deliver measurable returns in economic mobility and build financial resiliency for the next generation.

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