Richard Anglesey1, Michelle Bell2, Antonio Dejesus3, Mary Martin-Mabry4, Sarah Shepherd3
1 California Highway Patrol, 601 N. 7th Street, Sacramento, CA 95811
2 California Department of Public Health, 1615 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA 95814
3 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 9838 Old Placerville Road, Sacramento, CA 95827
4 California Conservation Corps, 1719 24th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
We explored how the AskCA digital assistant (opens in new window) could help new parents understand family leave rights and job protections.
The opportunity
Californians welcomed more than 400,000 babies in 2024 (opens in new window). New parents can be exhausted after their baby is born. They often feel overwhelmed by California’s leave programs. Parents face paperwork, denials, and uncertainty about pay and job protections. There are lots of acronyms, like PDL, CFRA, FMLA, and PFL. It can be hard to understand how the programs fit together or how much time off parents can take.
The Fellows saw an opportunity to give Californians clear, trusted answers. We explored how the state’s new digital assistant could help people before they applied or made leave decisions.
What we learned
Our research found:
- Information about taking leave for a new child is often hard for parents to find and understand. Many rely on friends, online groups, or consultants to piece together how different programs work and what they qualify for. This can lead to missed benefits and incorrect assumptions.
- State processes can feel difficult. Parents get confusing status updates and uneven communications. When their payments were delayed, they had limited ways to get help. Some turn to elected officials or paid services when they can’t reach someone who can explain the status of their claim.
- These problems affect how people feel when they deal with the state. Taking family leave can be one of people’s most important interactions with government. Making this clearer and more dependable could build trust when people need support.
What we did
We started by understanding where people struggle. We:
- Looked at questions parents asked in online forums
- Reviewed state websites and benefit information
- Talked with new parents about their experiences
This led us to the insight that parents need clear answers early. This would help them avoid confusion and have a smooth experience with state programs at an important time in their lives.
We worked with the Office of Data and Innovation (ODI) as they built the digital assistant. The pilot is part of the Governor’s Executive Order (opens in new window) to use GenAI to make it easy to access government services. ODI used the Fellow’s research to inform digital assistant responses that parents could use to find answers.
We tested the assistant to see how well it answered common questions. ODI used the results to improve how the assistant understands and answers questions. This will make the digital assistant perform better in the future.
Our approach
We spent a lot of time understanding and refining the problem. We looked at things from a new or soon-to-be parent’s point of view. We talked with new parents about their experiences and looked for common problems.
Once we understood their challenges, we created parent profiles. Each profile represented a situation we learned about in our research. We searched government websites for information about benefits and how to get them. As we searched, we noted what might be different for each situation. We checked our understanding with state staff who work on paid family leave programs.
Recommendations
There are several ways future teams can build on this work. Any next step should focus on checking all information carefully. This includes using trusted sources and testing answers with real situations.
We recommend including experts in making the digital assistant more accurate. Good partners could include:
- Employment Development Department
- Civil Rights Department
- Legal or policy teams
The state could expand this work beyond family leave. Parents often need help with other parts of welcoming a new child. This includes healthcare, childcare, getting a birth certificate, and food assistance. Adding these topics could make the assistant more helpful.
Another option is to test the assistant in a small, focused family‑leave process. Clear goals, trusted information, and expert review would help the state see what works.