California Serves Grant 2025 Executive Summary - Legislative Report
Executive summary of the Report to the Legislature for the California Serves Program: Strategies to Expand High-Quality and Accessible Service-Learning Programs in California High Schools.Implementation of the California Serves Grant 2025 Report to the Legislature
Executive Summary
Education Code Section 51475 (Assembly Bill 181, Section 71, Budget Act of 2022) establishes the California Serves Program as a collaboration between the California Department of Education and California Volunteers. Beginning in fiscal year 2022–23, statute provides for an annual grant program of up to $5 million, with eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) able to receive grants of up to $500,000 to support State Seal of Civic Engagement (SSCE)-aligned service-learning projects. Statute also identifies several statewide responsibilities:
- Reviewing evidence on best practices in service-learning;
- Providing recommendations to expand equitable access to service-learning;
- Developing and posting statewide service-learning strategies;
- Developing model uniform metrics aligned to SSCE statewide criteria; and
- Administering the annual California Serves Grant using the evidence, recommendations, and model uniform metrics.
This report summarizes 2024 and 2025 data and outcomes from Cohorts 1, 2, and 3, encompassing 35 LEAs across urban, suburban, and rural regions of California.
Across cohorts, grantees embedded service‑learning into core academic subjects and career technical education, connecting classroom learning to community needs while increasing the number of SSCE insignias requested. Projects addressed pressing local issues such as public health, environmental stewardship, agricultural sustainability, civic literacy, and transportation safety. Capacity-building strategies, particularly professional learning for educators, partnerships, and infrastructure for student leadership, are strengthening local systems likely to sustain civic engagement work beyond the grant cycle. This report expands upon these findings and provides recommendations for deepened statewide implementation of the program.
If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact Sarah Smith, Education Programs Consultant, Professional Learning Support Division, by email at ssmith@cde.ca.gov.
Implementation of the California Serves Grant 2025 Report to the Legislature(DOCX)