California to Give Newborns 400 Free Diapers at Hospital Discharge in First-in-the-Nation Program
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on October 30 that the state will launch the nation's first state-run program giving free diapers to newborns: families who deliver at participating hospitals will receive 400 diapers when their baby is discharged, in sizes for newborns and babies up to 14 pounds.
The governor's office said the program will be offered in its first year at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle roughly a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor's office did not say how many.
The state set aside $7.4 million in last year's budget to roll out the initiative, and this year's budget proposal includes an additional $12.5 million to implement the program for the fiscal year ending in June 2027. The state has partnered with the nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers.
"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," Newsom said in a statement. He said the plan builds on California's effort to make living in the state more affordable for families, pointing to recent policies providing free meals at school and free preschool for all.
The governor's office noted that Tennessee and Delaware became, two years ago, the first U.S. states to offer free diapers to families enrolled in their Medicaid programs; California's program instead places the diapers directly into the hospital discharge process, without limiting eligibility to Medicaid enrollees.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 加州议会大厦（萨克拉门托）。 The California State Capitol in Sacramento. CC BY-SA 3.0，摄影：Andre m。图片来源 Source image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacramento,-California---State-Capitol.jpg
