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Updated Public Charge Guide

Joint Statement from CalHHS Leaders on New Public Charge Regulation 

California Health & Human Services Agency (CalHHS), the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), the Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Department of Social Services (CDSS), the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), and Covered California Leaders Applaud Federal Changes to Public Charge 

Immigrants and their families should not have to live in fear of being punished for accessing critical health care, nutrition, or housing benefits.

We applaud the new public charge regulation published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which makes it clear that in a public charge determination, most considerations of past public benefit receipt would undermine our mission to serve, aid, and protect needy and vulnerable children and adults and block paths to citizenship.

This new public charge regulation, effective on December 23, 2022, not only restores the policy but adds additional protections to help ensure that immigrants and their families can access critical public benefits without fear.

California is also releasing an updated public charge guide to serve as a resource for individuals and families with questions about the current federal public charge policy. We encourage individuals and families to contact a qualified immigration attorney if they have questions about their immigration case. Visit the California Department of Social Services website, for a list of state funded qualified immigration providers.

View California’s updated Public Charge Guide, available in the following languages: