Finding resources for your child in a new country can be confusing and intimidating. Sometimes false rumors or partial information add to the confusion. Here’s a basic list of education and health resources for children in immigrant families in California:

Every child can register for school, regardless of their immigration status.

Schools should not ask about your immigration status or your child’s, and are prohibited from sharing any of your information, says Gloria Inzunza-Franco of the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE).

To register your child for school, the only documents you should need are:

• Proof of age (birth or baptismal certificate, passport, etc.)
• Up-to-date immunization record
• Proof of address, such as utility bill

Your child may be able to receive bilingual education,

in spite of a California law that says schools must be taught in English. “If a parent is interested in bilingual education for their child,” says Inzunza-Franco, “they need to organize a group of parents to get the required number of 20 waivers.”

When her son was kindergarten age, Iris Maldonado of Yorba Linda was part of a group of parents who “fought for a waiver,” she says, and won a bilingual program for their kids. Maldonado’s older children had taken bilingual classes and “I think this helped them be more successful in school,” she says.

Parents for Unity, an L.A. grassroots group, “helped us learn our rights,” says Maldonado, and the parents presented their waiver requests at a school board meeting. The district approved 20 of the waivers and created the bilingual class.

For information on this process, call Ana Gamiz, CABE, 626, 814-4441.

Children’s Health Initiatives help all kids in their county get health care.

The Vasquez family could not afford health insurance, so Alejandro (14) and Agustin (9) had no insurance until the family learned about the Children’s Health Initiative of Santa Clara. Now the boys get regular medical, dental, and vision checkups, and Alejandro is working with a nutritionist on a diet and exercise plan.

Children’s Health Initiatives help families enroll for federal insurance programs. But they also “cover those kids who do not qualify for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families,” says Thomas Tran of LA CARE. Unlike those programs, which require proof of legal residence, “We don’t track that whole issue of immigrant status,” says Tran.

Currently 22 counties across California provide Children’s Health Initiatives. To find the program in your county, go to www.ihps-ca.org/county_programs.html

Federal health insurance covers children with proof of legal residence.

• Medi-Cal provides free or low-cost insurance to children in low-income families
• Health Families provides low-cost insurance for children in families with incomes too high for Medi-Cal but below 250% to 300% of the poverty level.

These programs ask about only the child’s immigration status, not the parent’s.

If your county has no CHI, you can find out more about these programs by calling 800-880-5305.

Several smaller state and private programs provide health insurance

or services to children not covered by other programs. For a list, go to www.100percentcampaign.org/