Julia Barajas
explores how college students achieve their goals, whether they’re fresh out of high school, pursuing graduate work or looking to join the labor force through alternative pathways.
Published June 18, 2025 5:00 AM
(
Olivia Hughes
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Whether teachers stay in the classroom is often a personal decision, but they’re all informed by the sacrifices that are often required of current and prospective educators, coupled with the state’s rising cost of living.
A closer look: What a "teacher shortage" means varies between districts, but, overall, California struggles to fill positions in special education, dual-language instruction, math and science.
Why it matters: A key indicator of teacher shortages is the number of substandard credentials and emergency permits issued by a state each year. By law, these can only be issued when fully-credentialed teachers are not available. In California, substandard credentials and permits tripled between 2013 and 2023.
What's next: Teacher candidates are required to complete at least 600 “clinical hours” before getting a classroom of their own. Often, this work is unpaid. To encourage more people to join the profession, California AssemblymemberAl Muratsuchi has introduced a bill to pay student teachers the same daily rate as substitute teachers.
Shayna Meikle owns Pigeon’s Roller Rink in Long Beach, along with a nearby skate shop and another rink in Mission Viejo. She spends most days in front of a computer, tending to the minutiae of running a business, or updating her company’s social media.
But, a few times a week, Meikle throws on a pair of skates and teaches clients the basics.
“Bend your knees!” she instructs them. “And stick your butt out!”
Shayna Meikle takes a spin with Elliott Fromm, general manager of her skating rink in Long Beach.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
“Arms in front of you,” she adds, as she extends her own.
About a decade ago, Meikle’s life looked different. As part of a teacher-training program, she taught science to middle schoolers.
But the money Meikle earned wasn’t enough to cover her living expenses. To make ends meet, she had to work after work.
During the week, Meikle was at her assigned campus in the city of Bell by 7 a.m. At 3:30 p.m., she’d clock out and race down to Carson for her college classes. From 7 to 10 p.m., she did roller skating gigs across the South Bay, and ran her own roller derby league. Then, she’d head home to Long Beach, exhausted. On weekends she was either at games, or studying and lesson planning.
Her schedule was intense, but she enjoyed the work. “I love science, and I love[d] the students,” she said. “I could have done that my whole life.”
But halfway through the four-year program, Meikle quit to focus on skating full-time.
Across the U.S., states are constantly in the midst of teacher shortages. California's teaching prep and residency programs are supposed to be part of the solution. But many hopeful teachers struggle to balance their passion with the risk of debt and high cost of living.
Across the U.S., states are constantly in the midst of teacher shortages. California's teaching prep and residency programs are supposed to be part of the solution. But many hopeful teachers struggle to balance their passion with the risk of debt and high cost of living.
Meikle doesn't regret it. But in the context of ongoing teacher shortages in California, that choice speaks to a broader failure to create conditions that entice educators to enter, or stay in, the field — conditions that are further complicated in Southern California by the cost of living and getting around.
In 2022, half as many people graduated from California's teacher-prep programs as in 2004, the peak year, according to the Learning Policy Institute.
“I think most people don't understand what it takes to become a teacher, the hoops you have to jump through,” said Jarod Kawasaki, department chair of teacher education at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
On top of proving subject matter competence and passing a string of required testing, K-12 teacher candidates in California must complete at least 600 hours of time working in a classroom — more than many other states in the country. Often, that labor is unpaid.
But to cultivate a reliable and diverse teacher workforce, experts don’t recommend scaling back on those requirements. Instead, they call on policymakers and stakeholders to design programs that help prospective educators meet them without self-sacrifice.
Staying in the classroom meant saying no
Meikle graduated shortly after the Great Recession. And when the jobs she’d had her eye on evaporated, she had to pivot.
A teacher-prep program at Cal State Dominguez Hills promised to let her put her degrees in geology and ecology and evolutionary biology to good use. In exchange for a four-year commitment to teach science, the program would cover the cost of her university coursework. Meikle would also earn about $19.50 an hour and receive an annual $4,000 stipend.
“For me, straight out of college, I was, like: ‘Oh my god! Nineteen dollars and fifty cents an hour? This is amazing!’” she said.
Teaching "really prepared me for where I am. I wouldn't be here without it. I learned so much. I grew so much," Meikle told LAist.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
Meikle spent the summer of 2011 learning about classroom management. Three months later, she had a classroom of her own. The program didn’t assign her a mentor teacher, she said, so she sought one out for herself. All in all, the start of her teaching career felt like being a baby bird getting pushed out of its nest, she told LAist.
Her stipend went to classroom supplies and professional clothes. The bulk of her wages went to pay off student loans. There wasn’t much left after that.
Little by little, the skating gigs got bigger. “I was getting all these opportunities, and I was getting paid well,” she said.
Listen
3:55
Who can afford to become a teacher in California?
Meikle also started seeing she was having a positive impact on adults.
Meikle recalled meeting a mother of five who had struggled with suicidal thoughts. After six months in the roller derby league, the woman shared with Meikle that skating made her feel "more alive than ever." Meikle didn’t doubt the importance of her work after that.
With time, Meikle started getting coaching gigs around the world. But to take on those jobs, she had to leave her students with substitutes — something she didn’t like.
Meikle also began to envision a life outside the classroom, one with more flexibility and less burnout: “I have to go be a professional skater, or stay here and say no to all of these opportunities,” she thought.
Are you a student teacher in the Los Angeles area trying to balance clinical hours with paying the bills? Share your story with us.
What it takes to become a teacher
California offers multiple pathways toward completing the 600-hour requirement, including traditional teacher-prep programs and residency programs, which are modeled after medical residencies and usually provide some form of compensation.
Cathy Yun is deputy director of the Educator Preparation Laboratory, an initiative spearheaded by the nonprofit Learning Policy Institute and the Bank Street Graduate School of Education in New York City. The project has partners across the country, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. It aims to ensure that teachers enter the classroom ready to provide students with an education that fosters “deeper learning” skills, including critical thinking.
Yun has been studying teacher-prep programs since 2019. Before that, she started several residency programs at Fresno State.
Throughout the U.S, she told LAist, “fewer people are seeing teaching as a desirable or viable career choice.”
The shortages, Yun said, are especially pronounced in special education, dual-language instruction, math and science.
The 600-hour requirement is meant to give aspiring educators ample time in the classroom before they get a chance to lead one of their own, Kawasaki said. But the requirement can serve as a barrier, particularly at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where many students are either Pell Grant recipients (a federal award for students with “exceptional financial need”) or the first in their families to go to college (a trait associated with lower household income).
The semester before student teaching is often a “stopping point” for prospective educators, Kawasaki told LAist. Students will say: “I can’t quit my job, so I’m going to [take a] pause.”
Most students do come back, he said, but it can sometimes take years. In the meantime, students might save up to have money set aside while they complete their clinical hours. Others return to the program after landing coveted internships, which provide a salary.
“Is 600 hours great for learning? Absolutely,” Kawasaki said. “But [the requirement] assumes that you have the means to be able to do that without working.”
California requires more student teaching than many other states, including Arizona, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas.
But to attract more candidates to the profession, Kawasaki doesn’t believe it would be wise to lower California’s requirement. Spending a significant amount of time at a school, he said, allows aspiring teachers to see what it takes to help students grow. It also enables them to become part of the school community.
Middle school students walk around Young Oak Kim Academy in Koreatown.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
A teacher who stayed
Kevin Gutierrez is a middle school science teacher at Young Oak Kim Academy in Koreatown. He’s been at the school for eight years, including the time he spent student teaching.
Like Meikle, Gutierrez signed up for a teacher-prep program that fast-tracked him into the classroom. In 2016, immediately after earning a bachelor’s degree in public health at UC Irvine, he enrolled at UCLA. There, he worked toward a master’s degree in education and a preliminary credential in biology and general science. The program paid for most of his tuition — but Gutierrez still had to figure out how to pay for his living expenses.
During the week, Gutierrez used public transportation to move between Downey, where he lived; Koreatown, where he taught; and Westwood, where he studied. He paid using his UCLA TAP Card, which offered free unlimited rides. While he was in transit, he usually graded student work or caught up on sleep.
Shayna Meikle's commute as a student teacher. Not depicted: The jobs she'd take in and around the South Bay in the evening.
(
Courtesy Google Maps
)
Kevin Gutierrez's commute as a student teacher. The commute would be about 100 minutes without any traffic.
(
Courtesy Google Maps
)
After teaching all day and going to class, Gutierrez worked as an Uber driver, usually from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. He also picked up shifts on weekends.
Early on in his program, other challenges emerged. First, Gutierrez’s landlord renovated the apartment he shared with his family in Lynwood and used that as a reason to jack up the rent. Then, Gutierrez’s mentor teacher passed away.
What kept him going through this difficult time?
Gutierrez’s program paired him with another mentor, who was extremely supportive, he said. Plus, his colleagues at Young Oak Kim Academy were always checking in. They’d routinely pop by his class and ask: “Hey, do you need anything?”
Gutierrez also endured because of personal motivation. He wanted to honor his mother, who fled violence in El Salvador as a teenager and didn't get to go to high school.
Kevin Gutierrez in his classroom.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
He also thought about a child he met while volunteering as an undergraduate. The boy was in fifth grade, but he couldn’t add or subtract. Gutierrez was dismayed that the child had gotten that far in school without learning fundamental math.
He’d also noticed that there weren’t many Latinos leading classrooms. As someone who lost his father at a young age, he wanted to be a role model for others.
At UCLA, faculty learned about the challenges Gutierrez was facing and secured an additional grant to help him out. “It took so much weight off my shoulders,” he said.
Despite that grant, the tuition support and all the Uber rides, Gutierrez still had to take out a loan to get through school. “But it wasn’t huge,” he said.
Building a diverse workforce
To attract more prospective teachers — and to make the profession more accessible to candidates from historically excluded groups — experts say it’s essential to consider the cost.
Kawasaki, the department chair at Cal State Dominguez Hills, has conducted research on the cost of becoming a K-12 educator, particularly for students from working class communities of color. For some of the California students in his research, getting through their prep programs required skipping meals to save money, or going without sleep so they could work.
In his work, Kawasaki notes that even teacher-prep programs with “frameworks that define teaching and learning around disrupting historical and current oppressive policies,” largely ignore the material needs of teacher candidates of color. “I, too, am complicit,” he wrote.
A 2023 report found that, nationally, more than 60% of all full-time, public school teachers have taken out student loans to pay for their education. Among them, more than one third reported working multiple jobs because of their student debt.
"Teaching is the best way for me to give back to my community, to give back to my people, " Gutierrez told LAist.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
“If we are really serious about addressing the [teacher] shortage, and especially addressing the shortage with a diverse workforce, then there has to be something that's done in terms of alleviating the financial burden that so many of our [teacher candidates] have to take on,” Kawasaki said.
Estela Zarate, dean of Loyola Marymount University’s school of education, noted that for many first-generation college graduates, “teaching is often the entry point to a middle-class job.”
“The cost of living has increased so much, particularly in areas like Los Angeles,” she said.
Incurring a loan to pursue teaching and then not being able to buy a home because you’re in debt is not going to draw more people to the profession, she added: “The math doesn't add up.”
In a May 2025 report, Yun and her colleague identified characteristics of high-quality teacher residency programs. These include a full-year of teaching experience alongside a mentor, coupled with the gradual release of responsibilities. Compensation for carefully-selected mentors and financial support for residents, they said, is also key.
To promote retention, the report also includes recommendations for policymakers. At the federal level, Yun and her colleague suggest covering teachers’ monthly student loan payments, so long as they remain in the classroom.
To encourage more people to join the profession at the state level, California Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance, has introduced a bill to pay student teachers the same daily rate as substitute teachers.
The bill has advanced with bipartisan support through the Assembly and will be heard by the Senate’s education committee on June 25. But whether it’ll pass is anyone’s guess, given that California is grappling with a $16 billion decline in tax revenue.
Saying goodbye
Leaving education, Meikle told LAist, is one of the toughest choices she’s ever made. “I cried about it. I went on long hikes by myself to think about it,” she said.
Before making her decision, she asked everyone around her for guidance. Meikle even asked her students to weigh in.
She polled her nearly 300 students: “Should I, your favorite teacher, leave you to do roller skating full time?”
All but one student said yes.
The rest told Meikle: “Go, Miss. Follow your dreams.”
Elly Yu
reports on early childhood. From housing to health, she covers issues facing the youngest Angelenos and their families.
Published April 3, 2026 5:00 AM
Under a new law that went into effect this year, childcare providers are barred from asking about a child's or family member’s immigration status.
(
Maria Gutierrez
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Under a new law that went into effect this year, childcare providers are barred from asking about a child's or family member’s immigration status.
What’s new: California Attorney General Rob Bonta provided guidance this week to childcare providers on new legal requirements to protect children and their families from immigration enforcement activities.
The backstory: Lawmakers passed AB 495 last year aimed at helping and protecting families in light of immigration enforcement, including allowing a broader definition of relatives to step in as a caregiver if a parent is detained.
The details: Under the new requirements, childcare centers have to regularly update a child’s emergency contact to make sure someone can be reached in the case of a parent being detained.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta provided guidance this week to childcare providers on new legal requirements to protect children and their families from immigration enforcement activities.
Under a new law that went into effect this year, childcare providers are not allowed to collect information about a child's or family member’s immigration status, unless necessary under state or federal law. Bonta’s office says there currently is no such requirement, though that could change with federal programs like Head Start.
“Childcare and preschool facilities should be safe and secure spaces so children can grow, learn and simply be children,” Bonta said in a statement.
His office says daycare centers also should not keep information about a formerly enrolled child longer than is required by state law.
The new law also requires facilities to inform the attorney general’s office and the state’s licensing agency if they get any requests for information from law enforcement related to immigration enforcement.
Facilities also must ask families to regularly update a child’s emergency contact information to make sure someone can be reached in case a parent is detained by federal immigration officials.
Warnings and advisories: Wind advisory, High Wind Advisory
What to expect: Partly cloudy skies, warmer weather and strong winds courtesy of the Santa Ana winds.
Read on ... for more details.
QUICK FACTS
Today’s weather: Partly cloudy
Beaches: Mid-70s
Mountains: Mid-60s to around 70 degrees
Inland: 75 to 81 degrees
Warnings and advisories: Wind advisory, High Wind Advisory
The Santa Ana winds are here to welcome us into the weekend, bringing warmer temperatures.
The winds will reach Point Mugu to the Santa Clarita Valley, down to Orange County and parts of the Inland Empire valleys and foothills east of the 5 Freeway.
Peak gusts are expected to reach 35 to 55 mph. The western San Gabriel Mountains, Highway 14 corridor, Santa Susana Mountains and the western Santa Monica Mountains are under a high wind warning until 6 p.m., when gusts could reach 65 mph.
As for temperatures, highs for L.A. County beaches will reach the upper 70s and up to the low 80s for inland areas.
Parts of Orange County and Coachella Valley will see temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s, with the warmest areas expected to reach 88 degrees.
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Jill Replogle
covers public corruption, debates over our voting system, culture war battles — and more.
Published April 3, 2026 5:00 AM
Green Cheek Beer Company in Costa Mesa is one of many local breweries that welcomes small humans and furry friends.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Getting together with friends at a bar or pub tends to get a lot harder when children and needy pets enter the mix. But Orange County has a solution — dog- and kid-friendly breweries.
Key ingredients: Spacious patios, a water bowl for the pooch, and food — either made onsite or, at the least, easy and quick to order and get delivered from somewhere else. Plus, of course, great beer from small, independent, local breweries.
Where to go: We have recommendations in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, and Fountain Valley.
Getting together with friends at a bar or pub tends to get a lot harder when children and needy pets enter the mix. One solution — Breweries! Beer gardens! Brewpubs!
Because parents (of kids and pets) want to go out, too — and not necessarily to a fast food restaurant with an indoor playground and no beer.
Thankfully, the Orange County suburbs where I live have gotten on board with my family- and pet-friendly craft brewery dreams. The key ingredients for me are spacious patios, a water bowl for the pooch, and food — either made onsite or, at the least, easy and quick to order and get delivered from somewhere else. Board and pub games are an added bonus.
Plus, of course, great beer from small, independent, local breweries. On the beer front, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of beer I encountered on my self-arranged tour of breweries in the Costa Mesa-Huntington Beach area.
Gone are the dark, dank days of nothing but IPA (IYKYK); now, you can find everything from pickle-tinged blondes, to mild sours, to rich and creamy stouts. If you’re not a big beer fan, every place I visited also had their own craft-made hard seltzers on the menu, as well as some non-alcoholic beverages.
Here are some of my favorites:
Riip (Huntington Beach)
Riip in Huntington Beach has two spots with full kitchens specializing in pizza and a wide variety of IPAs and other beer styles.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Riip has been a family favorite since the company opened its first tasting room in Sunset Beach in 2015, with board games and tables the kids could write on. They have since expanded a lot, with a pizzeria next door and another location near Fountain Valley, which also serves excellent pizza, and has a small arcade to keep the kiddos busy.
One thing they do especially well: For serious IPA drinkers, Riip is your place. They usually have at least half a dozen different IPAs on tap, along with a decent variety of other beers, lighter and darker.
This place is great for … dinner after the kids’ [insert sport] game. Also for date night.
Locations: 17236 Pacific Coast Highway; 19171 Magnolia Street #12, Huntington Beach Hours: Monday through Thurs, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
At Flashpoint Brewing Company in Huntington Beach, you can check out the brewing vats and other machinery up close while enjoying the results.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Flashpoint Brewing Co. (Huntington Beach)
I only recently discovered Flashpoint, which opened in 2020 on an industrial street near Huntington Beach Central Park. I actually love this aspect of craft brewery taprooms: they’re often located outside of trendy food and retail areas because they need to be able to actually brew beer there as well as serve it.
Flashpoint has a big patio lit with fairy lights. The tall doors of their brewing area, and an adjacent room with the taps and more tables are rolled up during opening hours, giving it a spacious, indoor-outdoor feel.
One thing they do especially well: All the beers I tried were highly drinkable. In other words, not crazy hoppy or overly heavy on flavors. The nectarine sour was especially good, refreshing with just the right amount of tartness.
This place is great for … An early evening toast, watching the clouds turn pink.
Location: 7302 Autopark Drive, Huntington Beach Hours: Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday, 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Green Cheek Beer Co. in Costa Mesa serves great beer and food, including shareable, snackable items like pad thai cauliflower.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Costa Mesa)
Green Cheek Beer Co. now has three locations in Orange County and one in Oceanside. Their Costa Mesa spot is conveniently located not far from the city’s Bark Park. So, naturally, after my pooch has fun, I deserve a cold one.
Green Cheek has a huge covered patio filled with long picnic tables. My dog, Ace, was very happy to find a bowl of water set out for their canine visitors, and lots of pets from the humans.
One thing they do especially well: Green Cheek makes great beer. But what I love most about their Costa Mesa spot is that you can soak up the alcohol with food, including smash burgers, tots, and pad thai cauliflower, from their good and reliably fast kitchen.
This place is great for … reading a book, or making a new friend! Their long picnic tables make it easy to opt in or out of the surrounding social scene.
Location: 2957 Randolph Avenue, Unit B, Costa Mesa Hours: Sunday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Bootlegger's Brewery outside the LAB Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa has a quiet patio for day drinking, and a lively trivia night scene.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Bootlegger’s Brewery (Costa Mesa)
Within walking distance of Green Cheek is Bootlegger’s Brewery. Bootlegger’s started in Fullerton, and now also has tasting rooms in Costa Mesa and Redlands.
Their Costa Mesa spot is on the outskirts of the LAB Anti-Mall, a collection of small businesses and restaurants, at least one of which will deliver food to your table. A section of the parking lot has been turned into a nice outdoor patio with sun shades for daytime and heat lamps for chillier evening hours.
One thing they do especially well: Their Kosher Crusher pickle blonde ale. They debuted it last fall and it is seriously good — light, refreshing, and just a little bit zesty.
This place is great for … “working” on a Friday afternoon (I was not the only one there typing one-handed on my laptop with a beer in the other), and then inviting friends to join you for happy hour.
Location: 696 Randolph Avenue, Suite B, Costa Mesa Hours: Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
There's an ambiance for everyone at Salty Bear Brewing Co. in Costa Mesa.
(
Jill Replogle
/
LAist
)
Salty Bear Brewing Company
Salty Bear is part of The Camp, an uber-cool retail and restaurant complex also within walking distance of Green Cheek and Bootlegger’s (you can do a tasting tour!).
Salty Bear is worth a visit for the aesthetics alone. It has a great bar with midcentury tiling and dimpled red leather. The sprawling, leafy outdoor patio provides plenty of room for the kids to wander.
One thing they do especially well: Their Coastline Strawberry Blonde made me nostalgic for the fruity beers that got me hooked on craft beer in my 20s — but so much better.
This place is great for … Kickin’ it on the patio with friends, either listening to live music, or letting your kids practice performing on the teepee-themed outdoor stage.
Location: 2948 Randolph Avenue, C, Costa Mesa Hours: Monday through Wednesday, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, noon to 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published April 2, 2026 4:23 PM
Supervisor Holly Mitchell, L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer, actor Danny Trejo and others gathered at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Wilmington.
(
Aaron Schrank
/
LAist
)
Topline:
A new private foundation called The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA launched Thursday, aiming to raise $2 million to shore up county health services this year. It comes after the Department of Public Health closed seven clinics following $50 million in funding cuts since early 2025.
Who's behind it: The foundation's board includes Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, the CEOs of Blue Shield of California Foundation and LA Care Health Plan, actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo and more. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 at the launch. Ferrer acknowledged it's "a hard day" when a public agency has to turn to private donors to fund basic services.
Deeper cuts ahead: The federal "Big Beautiful Bill" slashes Medi-Cal funding, and the department anticipates losing up to $300 million over the next three years. Federal dollars account for nearly half the public health budget.
Some government funding streams for L.A. County’s public health system are drying up, and officials are turning to private philanthropy to fill the gap.
A new privately funded foundation launched Thursday to strengthen public health services after $50 million in federal, state and local funding cuts to the county’s Department of Public Health since early last year.
“It is really a hard day for our community when we have to ask for private donations to fund a public good, but unfortunately, we've lost too much money to not take this important step,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
In February, the county’s Public Health Department closed seven clinics, with six remaining open. About half of the patients seen in those clinics are uninsured, according to county officials. The department also cut hundreds of staff positions.
She said the fund will help the county maintain its basic public health infrastructure, including disease prevention, health promotion, environmental health, and emergency response efforts.
Other board members include several health insurance executives, as well as actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 to the fund Thursday. Kayne said she hopes the donation encourages others to give.
The foundation aims to raise $2 million this year.
More cuts expected
L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said it’s crucial to have an alternative funding stream to protect services for the county's most vulnerable residents.
“We are saving public health,” Mitchell said. “This fund represents a new approach, one that brings together government philanthropy in the private sector to invest in community-based solutions, protect vulnerable populations, and strengthen our public health infrastructure.”
Officials say more public health cuts are coming, through the federal budget law known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," which slashes funding for Medi-Cal.
The county Department of Public Health anticipates losing up to $300 million in revenue over the next three years because of the federal budget bill and other potential funding freezes. Federal funding accounts for almost 50% of the public health budget, according to county officials.
Mitchell also led an effort to put a half-percent county sales tax increase to fund public health on the June ballot.
If approved by voters, that proposal, known as Measure ER, is expected to raise about $1 billion a year for county safety net health services, including about $100 million for the public health department.
