What Is CalAIM? A Plain-Language Guide for Medi-Cal Families in Yuba-Sutter

If your family has Medi-Cal — California’s Medicaid program — something significant has been changing in recent years that you may not have heard much about.

It’s called CalAIM: California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal. It’s the largest transformation of California’s Medi-Cal program in decades, and it’s designed to do something that Medi-Cal hasn’t traditionally done: address not just medical conditions, but the social circumstances that drive poor health outcomes in the first place.

For families with young children in Yuba and Sutter Counties — many of whom are Medi-Cal beneficiaries — understanding CalAIM can mean access to services that didn’t exist before, or that you didn’t know you could receive.

This post explains what CalAIM is, what it offers, and how to find out whether your family might benefit.

The Problem CalAIM Is Trying to Solve

Traditional Medi-Cal pays for medical care: doctor visits, hospitalizations, prescriptions, dental and vision services. What it hasn’t historically paid for is the underlying circumstances that make people sick in the first place.

Consider a family that cycles in and out of the emergency room because of untreated asthma. The ER visits are expensive and stressful. But if the underlying cause is mold in the apartment — and the family has no resources to address it or move — the medical treatment is never going to solve the problem.

Or consider a mother struggling with postpartum depression who doesn’t follow up with a specialist because she has no transportation and three children under 5.

CalAIM is California’s attempt to address these situations by making Medi-Cal more flexible — allowing it to fund non-medical services that prevent poor health outcomes, reduce emergency care use, and support families in the circumstances where they actually live.

The Two Main New Offerings Under CalAIM

1. Enhanced Care Management (ECM)

Enhanced Care Management is a new Medi-Cal benefit for people with complex health and social needs — members who face multiple challenges simultaneously (medical conditions, behavioral health issues, housing instability, involvement in the child welfare system, and others).

ECM works differently from standard care coordination. A dedicated care manager works with the member across all of their needs — not just the medical ones. They help coordinate doctors, connect with behavioral health services, and navigate social services that address housing, food, and family stability.

Who qualifies for ECM? Eligibility is based on being in a designated “population of focus” — categories defined by the state that include people experiencing homelessness, people with complex behavioral health needs, individuals involved in the criminal justice or child welfare systems, and others. Your Medi-Cal managed care plan determines ECM eligibility.

2. Community Supports

Community Supports are perhaps the most innovative part of CalAIM for families. These are non-medical services that Medi-Cal managed care plans can authorize instead of — or in addition to — traditional services when those non-medical supports would better address a member’s needs.

The list of available Community Supports includes services that low-income families with young children often desperately need:

Housing navigation and transition support — help finding and securing stable housing
Transitional rent — up to six months of rental assistance for members experiencing or at risk of homelessness (became mandatory for all Medi-Cal plans January 1, 2026)
Medically tailored meals — nutritious meals for people with specific health conditions
Asthma remediation — home repairs (like addressing mold or installing air purifiers) that reduce asthma triggers
Personal care and respite — in-home care support for people with disabilities or complex needs
Housing deposits — help with security deposits and first/last month’s rent

Not every plan offers every Community Support, and not every member who could benefit actually knows to ask for them. This is part of why awareness matters.

What Changed in 2026

CalAIM has been rolling out in phases since January 2022. Several important developments took effect in 2026:

Continuous eligibility for children under 5: Starting January 2026, children under age 5 who are enrolled in Medi-Cal keep their coverage continuously until the end of the month they turn 5 — regardless of changes in family income during that period. This eliminates the disruption that happened when families had small income changes and temporarily lost their child’s Medi-Cal coverage mid-year.

Transitional rent as a mandatory Community Support: As of January 1, 2026, all Medi-Cal managed care plans in California must offer transitional rent assistance to qualifying members — up to six months of rental assistance for members experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This is a significant expansion of housing support through Medi-Cal.

Expansion of ECM and Community Supports infrastructure: The state has continued scaling up the provider network for these services. There are now approximately 2,600 provider contracts for Community Supports across California, compared to about 750 in early 2022.

Why This Matters for Families With Young Children

The first five years of life are the most critical period for brain development, health, and the formation of habits and capacities that shape a person’s entire life trajectory. Everything that happens in a family during those years — housing stability, food security, parental mental health, access to early learning — shapes what a child becomes.

Medi-Cal has long been the primary health coverage program for low-income families with young children in California. In Yuba and Sutter Counties, many families with children in E Center’s Head Start programs also receive Medi-Cal. CalAIM’s expansion of services to address housing, nutrition, and behavioral health directly affects the conditions in which these children grow up.

Specifically for families with young children, CalAIM-related services may include: – Housing support that prevents disruptive moves during critical developmental years – Behavioral health services for parents experiencing depression, anxiety, or trauma that affects their capacity to parent – Care coordination that helps families navigate healthcare, social services, and community programs simultaneously – Home environmental improvements (like asthma remediation) that make the home safer for young children

How to Find Out What You Might Qualify For

CalAIM benefits are delivered through Medi-Cal managed care plans — the plans that manage your Medi-Cal coverage. In Yuba and Sutter Counties, most Medi-Cal members are enrolled in a managed care plan.

Steps to explore CalAIM benefits:

Call your Medi-Cal managed care plan — the phone number is on your Medi-Cal card or benefits letter. Ask specifically about Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports available to your family.
Ask your doctor or clinic — healthcare providers who work with Medi-Cal patients are increasingly familiar with CalAIM and can often initiate referrals for ECM or Community Supports.
Contact E Center’s CalAIM team — E Center’s CalAIM Team are experienced in connecting families to the full range of available programs. If you’re enrolled in Head Start, your Family Services worker can help navigate CalAIM options alongside other supports.
Call 2-1-1 — the statewide information and referral helpline can connect you with local resources and help identify what programs you may qualify for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CalAIM a separate program from Medi-Cal? No. CalAIM is a transformation of how Medi-Cal works — not a separate program. If you have Medi-Cal, CalAIM changes may affect the services available to you through your existing coverage.

Do I have to do anything to receive CalAIM benefits? In most cases, you need to ask or be referred. ECM requires enrollment through your managed care plan. Community Supports require authorization. Don’t assume you’ll automatically receive these services — ask your plan, your provider, or E Center’s Family Services team what’s available.

Does CalAIM affect my child’s Medi-Cal coverage even if I don’t personally qualify for ECM? Yes. The continuous eligibility change for children under 5 affects all children enrolled in Medi-Cal in that age group, regardless of other CalAIM services. This means your child’s coverage should be more stable starting in 2026.

I’ve heard CalAIM can help with housing. Is that really through Medi-Cal? Yes — through the Community Supports component, Medi-Cal can now authorize housing navigation, transitional rent, and related supports for qualifying members. This is genuinely new territory for a program that was previously focused almost entirely on medical care.

E Center’s Role in Supporting Families

E Center’s CalAIM Team have long worked to connect families with the full range of programs available in Yuba, Butte, Yolo, Lake, Glenn, Tehama and Sutter Counties — WIC, CalFresh, housing assistance, mental health services, and more. CalAIM adds new tools to that toolkit.

If your child is enrolled in Head Start at E Center, your Family Services worker is a resource for navigating CalAIM and other program changes. If you’re not yet enrolled in Head Start, enrolling puts you in contact with this support network.

???? Call (530) 634-1200 — for questions about eligibility, the application, or what to expect after you apply

This post is for informational purposes. CalAIM program details and available services vary by managed care plan and may change as the program continues to evolve. Contact your Medi-Cal plan or E Center’s CalAIM team for guidance specific to your family’s situation.