Raising children on your own is demanding, and no one should do it without support. Whether you are newly separated or have been parenting solo for years, there are practical support resources for single parents — emotional, financial, and legal — that can lighten the load. This page points single parents in California toward the kinds of help available, including support groups for single mothers and fathers and the legal tools that protect your family.
Community and emotional support
Isolation is one of the hardest parts of single parenting, and connecting with others in the same situation helps. Many communities have a single mothers support group or single-parent meetup through local family resource centers, places of worship, community colleges, and nonprofit organizations, and there are active online communities as well. County health and human services departments and organizations like 211 California can point you to local groups, counseling, and family services near you.
Financial and practical resources
Single parents in California may qualify for a range of assistance, including CalWORKs, CalFresh (food assistance), subsidized childcare, and Medi-Cal. The local child support agency (the Department of Child Support Services) can help establish and collect child support at no cost, which is often a family’s most important source of stability. Legal aid organizations across the state provide free or low-cost help for parents who cannot afford an attorney.
The legal side: custody and support
Two legal orders do more than almost anything else to stabilize a single-parent household: a clear custody and parenting-time order, and a child support order that is actually enforced. If custody is informal or support is not being paid, those are exactly the situations a family law attorney can fix — establishing or modifying custody, calculating guideline child support, and enforcing support that has gone unpaid. Getting these orders in place is not about conflict; it is about giving your children security.
Talk to Furubotten Law
Every page on this site ends the same way it began: with a real lawyer. If you are navigating any of the issues discussed above, Denise Furubotten, Esq. brings 30 years of California family law experience to your matter. Call Furubotten Law, APC at (714) 795-3862 to schedule a confidential evaluation.