Overview

• The statute expands the long-standing caregiver authorization affidavit to adult relatives within the fifth degree, including great-aunts and cousins, enabling them to enroll children in school and consent to medical and dental care.
• These caregiver designations are temporary, can be canceled by parents, and do not grant legal custody.
• The law prohibits child-care providers from collecting immigration information about children or parents and allows parents to nominate a temporary legal guardian.
• Newsom signed the bill one day before his deadline after weeks of lobbying and protests, and he emphasized that custody determinations remain with family courts, countering false claims that strangers could gain custody.
• Bill author Celeste Rodríguez narrowed the measure in the summer to exclude non-related extended family members, and immigrant-rights and child-advocacy groups supported its passage.