Nancy Young responses:

1. People with disabilities represent more than 20 percent of the California population. If elected, what would you do to make sure that disabled people have a voice in your administration? Would you appoint a senior advisor on disability issues to help you set goals, track progress, and integrate disability issues throughout your administration?

Yes. People with disabilities must have a real voice in state government, not just a seat at the end of the table after decisions have already been made. I would appoint senior leadership focused on disability issues and require disability inclusion across agencies, budgeting, hiring, emergency planning, transportation, housing, healthcare, and education. I also want ongoing advisory input from disabled Californians and disability-led organizations so that lived experience helps shape policy from the beginning.

2. Please describe how you have worked with disabled people and disability-led organizations in the leadership roles you have held to date.

My leadership has always been community-centered. In local government, ministry, youth work, mentoring, nonprofit work, and community events, I have worked with families and residents facing a wide range of challenges, including physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, behavioral health needs, and mental health concerns. I have consistently believed government and leadership should educate, include, and connect people to resources, not make them feel invisible or pushed aside. That same mindset would carry into state leadership.

3. HR 1 cuts $30 billion a year from Medi-Cal, which represents a significant threat to the disabled children and adults and older Californians who rely on Medi-Cal to live in the community. What would you do to mitigate the impact of these cuts on disabled Californians? Can you promise to protect home and community based (HCBS) services from cuts? How can California better include peers, who can support outreach to communities who may be fearful of participating in safety-net programs, as the first point of contact to build on inherent trust and connection with people in need?

I would fight to protect home and community-based services because people do better when they can live with dignity in their communities and not be forced into more restrictive settings. If federal cuts come, California cannot simply shift that burden onto disabled children, adults, and seniors. We need to protect the most essential services first, cut bureaucracy before care, and build more trusted peer-to-peer outreach so people are not shut out because they are fearful, overwhelmed, or disconnected. Peers with lived experience should be part of the front door to services because trust matters.

4. Our state has made immense progress in providing Medi-Cal to people regardless of immigration status, but the 2025 budget bill reversed most of this progress. How would you advance immigrant justice and disability rights through the Medi-Cal program? How would you raise needed revenue to ensure that cuts to federal funding are not borne primarily by people with disabilities and immigrants in the state?

I believe California should not force vulnerable people to carry the heaviest burden when government gets difficult. Disabled people and immigrant communities should not be the first place we look to cut. My approach would be to protect core care, review inefficiencies across state systems, prioritize frontline services over administrative waste, and be honest with Californians about tradeoffs. I also believe we need community-based outreach so people understand what they qualify for and can access care without fear.

5. Governor Newsom developed master plans for aging and for developmental services. What ideas do you have for leveraging these plans or updating them to reflect current priorities?

I  would use those plans as living tools, not shelf documents. They need to be reviewed against today’s realities: affordability, caregiver strain, housing shortages, transportation barriers, workforce shortages, technology gaps, and emergency preparedness. I would want measurable goals, public reporting, and direct input from older adults, disabled Californians, families, providers, and advocates so the plans stay useful and accountable.

6. What strategies would you use to improve outcomes for people who are currently unhoused and unsheltered, including the over 40% who qualify as people with disabilities?

We have to stop treating homelessness like one problem with one answer. People who are unhoused and disabled often need coordinated support across housing, mental health, medical care, substance use treatment, benefits access, transportation, and case management. My approach would be balanced and proactive: get people connected to services faster, strengthen local partnerships, support community-based care, and remove barriers that keep people cycling between the street, the ER, and the justice system. The goal is not just shelter. The goal is stability.

7. How would you work to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the State government and in the delivery of services funded by the government?

To me, this starts with dignity, access, and fairness in practice, not slogans. State government should reflect the people it serves, and services should actually reach the people who need them. That means better outreach, language access, disability access, accountability for outcomes, and more community voice in design and delivery. We also need to make sure people do not have to fight through layers of bureaucracy just to be seen.

8. The representation of state workers with disabilities decreased significantly during Governor Newsom’s two terms. What ideas do you have to improve recruiting, retention, and career development for state workers with disabilities?

California should lead by example. That means accessible hiring processes, accessible workplaces, strong accommodations, mentorship, promotion pathways, and accountability for retention and advancement. We also need to stop treating disability inclusion as a compliance issue only. It is a leadership issue, a talent issue, and a dignity issue.

9. In November, we marked the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). What ideas do you have for protecting adequate funds for special education and improving outcomes for students with disabilities in California? Do you have specific ideas for improving outcomes and equal access for students who are Deaf or hard of hearing? Or students with disabilities caught in the school-prison nexus and involved in the juvenile legal system?

Special education must be funded and treated as essential, not optional. Students with disabilities deserve timely services, strong IEP implementation, qualified staff, and real accountability for outcomes. For Deaf and hard of hearing students, equal access means communication access, qualified interpreters, appropriate language-rich learning environments, and healthcare and school systems that do not leave families fighting for basic accommodations. For students caught in the school-prison nexus, we need earlier intervention, better behavioral and mental health supports, restorative approaches, family engagement, and a commitment to stop criminalizing unmet needs.

10. Wildfires, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters have disproportionate impacts on people with disabilities and older adults. What ideas do you have for improving emergency preparedness and response for these populations?

Emergency planning must include people with disabilities and older adults from the start, not as an afterthought. We need accessible alerts, evacuation plans that account for mobility and communication needs, backup power planning, medication continuity plans, transportation coordination, shelter accessibility, and real local drills that include disabled residents and caregivers. Preparedness has to be practical, local, and tested.

11. Transportation continues to be a major barrier to employment, access to healthcare and school, and community engagement for many Californians. What ideas do you have to improve transportation access, particularly in rural parts of the state?

Transportation is a lifeline. If people cannot get to work, school, access healthcare, or get around their community, they are cut off from opportunity. I support practical, connected transportation solutions that improve access across urban, suburban, and rural communities. That includes better local coordination, more reliable paratransit and non-emergency medical transportation, stronger regional partnerships, and infrastructure decisions that take disabled Californians and rural communities seriously.

12. California is home to the leading companies that develop new technologies for the world. How would you work with technology companies to improve technology accessibility and affordability for people with disabilities in California and beyond? Do you have a plan to address the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and ensure equitable measures to include diverse populations, including Californians with disabilities?

California should lead the world not only in innovation, but in responsible innovation. I would work with technology companies to make accessibility part of design from the beginning, not an expensive fix later. On AI, we need transparency, testing, accessibility standards, bias review, and stronger public accountability so disabled Californians are not excluded or harmed by systems that shape healthcare, education, employment, public services, and safety. Innovation without inclusion is not progress.

13. Despite decades of state and federal legal requirements, both public and private sector entities continue to provide web content that is inaccessible to persons with disabilities, especially persons who are blind or have low vision. What commitments would you make to more stringent laws and increased enforcement of state law to ensure websites that are fully accessible to people with disabilities?

Accessibility should not be optional. Public-facing state systems and entities doing business with the state should meet clear accessibility standards, and there should be meaningful enforcement when they do not. If a person cannot access information, apply for services, communicate with government, or participate online, that is not equal access. I support stronger accountability and compliance expectations, especially where basic public services are involved.

14. California’s mental health system is struggling to keep up with major policy and funding changes implemented in the past five years—including CARE Court, SB 43, and Proposition 1—while one in seven adults live with a mental illness and many Californians struggle to find providers who accept their insurance. What is your plan to improve mental health care in California? What role do you see for peer leaders with lived experience with mental illness and substance abuse to help shape your approach, and what is your plan to fund and support consumer-operated, peer-led services—such as wellness centers and peer support? How can California work with private insurers to be more responsive to the growing need for care?

Mental health is one of the clearest places where California needs a more honest and more connected system. We need more providers, faster access, better coordination, stronger parity enforcement, and more community-based care. I strongly believe peer leaders and consumer-operated services should have a real role because lived experience builds trust and helps people stay connected to care. We also need private insurers to do better. If people have coverage on paper but cannot find a provider in practice, that is not real access.

15. Many disabled Californians have been traumatized by the racial profiling and aggressive tactics being used by ICE employees in our State. How will you protect Californians from illegal harassment by the federal government and their contractors?

All people should be treated with dignity. No one should be illegally harassed, profiled, or intimidated. California must uphold the law, defend civil rights, and make sure people know their rights. My responsibility as governor would be to ensure state agencies are coordinated, lawful, and responsive, and that Californians are not left unprotected when federal actions cross legal or constitutional lines.

16. What ideas do you have to improve our state’s understanding and support for people with Long COVID?

As Mayor of Tracy, there was a lot of good we did during the troublesome years when COVID was rampant. We need to take Long COVID seriously. That means better public understanding, better provider education, better coordination across disability and healthcare systems, and more support for people whose ability to work, learn, and function has been changed. California should treat Long COVID as a real access, employment, and healthcare issue, not something people have to prove over and over again while they are already struggling.

17. Access to healthcare is vitally important to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community who often face barriers to care. What ideas do you have to increase equal access to healthcare for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

Equal access means communication access every time, not only when someone fights for it. We need stronger expectations for interpreters, communication accommodations, accessible telehealth, staff training, and patient rights enforcement. Healthcare should not become another barrier because the system failed to communicate clearly and respectfully.

18. In 2024, California’s poverty rate tied (with Louisiana) for the highest in the United States. What ideas do you have for helping Californians get the resources they need to meet their basic needs, and be able to afford to live here?

Affordability is one of the biggest issues in this race because it touches everything. Families are under pressure from housing, transportation, healthcare, food, childcare, and energy costs all at once. My approach is to get to the root causes, reduce the burden on families, cut waste before cutting people, strengthen access to community supports, and connect people to real opportunity. We do not need more politics around poverty. We need solutions that make life more livable again. That is central to her campaign message on affordability and restoring opportunity.

19. California incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than almost any democratic country, and Black Californians are nine times more likely to be imprisoned than white Californians. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, at least 40 percent of people in state prisons have a disability. As Governor, what would be your approach to public safety and racial equity as it relates to the criminal justice system?

Public safety and justice should go together. We need accountability, but we also need prevention, fairness, and a serious look at root causes. Too many people with disabilities and too many Black Californians are caught in systems that respond too late and too harshly. I support a balanced approach: protect communities, support victims, address mental health and behavioral issues earlier, strengthen diversion where appropriate, and make sure the system is focused on justice instead of simply cycling people through harm. That reflects her stated belief that safety and prevention must work together.

20. In 2020, Governor Newsom signed SB 823 to close California’s youth prison system, which transferred the responsibility to care for young people charged with the most serious offenses from the state to the counties. Many young people who are currently detained in county-run juvenile detention facilities are disabled and reenter their communities with unaddressed and/or additional disabilities. There are also some juvenile detention facilities that the Board of State and Community Corrections have deemed unsuitable for housing young people, and yet they remain open. What ideas do you have to support young people with disabilities before and while they encounter the juvenile legal system?

Young people need intervention before crisis becomes custody. We should be investing earlier in school support, family support, behavioral health, mentoring, and disability-informed services. For youth already in detention, the state and counties have a duty to provide safe placements, proper care, disability accommodations, reentry planning, and educational continuity. Young people should not come out of those systems more traumatized and more disabled than when they went in.

21. With federal civil rights enforcement severely weakened, state agencies are now carrying more of the burden. What specific steps will you take to strengthen California’s civil rights enforcement agencies—through funding, staffing, authority, and coordination—so that rights violations are investigated and remedied promptly and effectively across the state, including violations that implicate AI developers and deployers?

California needs civil rights enforcement that is responsive, coordinated, and strong enough to meet the moment. I would focus on staffing, training, interagency coordination, public reporting, and clearer accountability for timely investigations and remedies. I also believe civil rights enforcement has to keep up with where harm is happening now, including digital systems and AI. If technology is shaping access to jobs, education, healthcare, housing, and public services, civil rights protections have to reach there too.