Gavin Newsom allows distant family and friends to care for children if parents are deported. This bill, the Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025, would revise the definition of a relative to broaden the type of relative who is authorized to execute an affidavit of caregiver authorization and would grant them the same rights to authorize school-related health care, as defined, for the minor that is granted to guardians, as specified. By expanding who is authorized to sign an affidavit authorizing caregivers for these purposes under penalty of perjury, this bill would expand the crime of perjury and thus impose a local program mandated by the state. AB 495 expands the requirements for being a caregiver beyond the immediate family to include people such as godparents, mentors, cousins or close family friends.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 495, which expands protections for children whose parents face deportation. The bill allows a wider range of family members (any consanguineous, adopted, or related adult relative within the fifth degree of kinship, such as great aunts or cousins) to sign an affidavit of caregiver authorization. This affidavit temporarily authorizes caregivers to enroll children in school and consent to receive medical care when parents are not available. Under current law, a caregiver who is 18 years of age or older who signs the caregiver's affidavit of authorization under penalty of perjury and who is a certain type of relative of the minor living in their home has the same rights as those provided to guardians to authorize the child's medical and dental care provided to tutors.
Under current law, a caregiver who is 18 years of age or older and signs an affidavit of caregiver authorization under penalty of perjury for a minor living in their home is authorized to enroll the child in school and consent to school-related health care on behalf of the child.
