Diapers are not a luxury.
They are as essential to a child’s health and wellbeing as food, housing, and doctor visits. Yet, today, families are being forced to ration diapers, skip meals, delay bill payments, and sacrifice other basic necessities just to afford them.
In Orange County, where housing, childcare, and everyday essentials continue to rise in cost, thousands of families are struggling to afford something as basic as diapers. That is why, as state leaders finalize the 2026-27 budget, sustaining support for California’s diaper bank network is so important to families in our community.
This investment supports the OC Diaper Bank locally, a program of Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAP OC). Since launching in 2020, the OC Diaper Bank has distributed nearly 60 million diapers to families with young children. What began as an emergency response has become a critical lifeline for families struggling to make ends meet—helping alleviate financial stress, improving child health outcomes, and creating greater long-term stability for parents and caregivers.
But this work is only possible through strong community partnerships.
The OC Diaper Bank collaborates with partners across the county to meet the growing demand for infant essentials, including local city and county departments, family resource centers, and nonprofit organizations. Together, we believe every child deserves access to clean diapers, and every family deserves the dignity and stability that comes with having their most basic needs met.
And that need has never been greater.
According to the National Diaper Bank Network’s 2026 Diaper Check Report, nearly 1 in 2 families with young children experience diaper need in the United States. Behind that statistic are millions of parents and caregivers forced to make impossible financial choices each month. Research shows that among households experiencing diaper need, 45% have skipped a credit card or utility payment, 29% have delayed rent or mortgage payments, and 34% have skipped meals in order to afford diapers and other necessities.
For Orange County families already facing some of the highest housing and childcare costs in the state, spending an additional $90 to $110 per child each month on diapers can quickly become overwhelming.
These financial pressures are only intensified by harmful federal budget cuts impacting low-income families, including reductions to programs like SNAP and Medicaid that many rely on to meet essential needs, affecting over 300,000 individuals in Orange County alone.
As access to these critical resources shrinks, families are left with even less flexibility in already stretched household budgets. We anticipate these cuts will have a compounding effect, forcing parents and caregivers to forgo not only diapers, but other basic necessities needed to keep their children healthy and safe. For families already living paycheck to paycheck, this could mean crisis.
Unlike food assistance programs, diapers are not covered by SNAP benefits, and families often cannot access childcare without providing a daily supply of diapers. That means a parent without enough diapers may also lose access to work opportunities, making it even harder to regain financial stability. In this way, diaper need creates a ripple effect that impacts not only children’s health, but also household income, workforce participation, and long-term family wellbeing.
Because diaper access is about far more than hygiene.
A mother in Costa Mesa may only be able to keep a full-time job if she can provide the diapers required by her child’s daycare provider. A grandparent raising grandchildren in Anaheim may avoid an emergency hospital visit because consistent access to clean diapers helped prevent a severe diaper rash or urinary tract infection. For many local families, these seemingly small supports become the difference between stability and emergency.
Again, diapers are not a luxury item.
They are a public health necessity, an economic support, and an equity issue. That is why the California diaper bank network’s $16.5 million request is a smart and necessary investment that Orange County constituents should support.
This funding sustains a local infrastructure that is already working, keeping children healthy, helping parents maintain employment, and giving families greater stability during a time of rising costs and economic uncertainty. CAP OC is proud to carry out this work, but we cannot do it without continued partnership from the state.
Importantly, this investment delivers measurable impact directly within communities. Every diaper distributed through the OC Diaper Bank reaches families through trusted nonprofit and community-based partners already serving vulnerable populations. This coordinated approach allows resources to reach parents quickly, efficiently, and with dignity.
At a time when many Orange County families are struggling to afford even the basics, reducing support for diaper banks would move our community in the wrong direction. Every day, the OC Diaper Bank sees firsthand how diaper assistance helps parents remain employed, keeps children healthy, and provides stability during difficult financial times. Continued state support ensures Orange County families can continue accessing this essential resource when they need it most.
As state leaders finalize the FY 2026–27 budget next month, we urge them not to overlook this essential investment in children, families, and local communities like ours. By sustaining diaper bank funding, we can continue building healthier families, stronger communities, and a more equitable future for every Orange County family.
Gregory C. Scott is President and CEO of Community Action Partnership Orange County (CAP OC), a Garden Grove-based nonprofit working to stabilize, sustain and empower individuals and families out of poverty. He resides in La Palma, CA.
