10277.2. (Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 108, Sec. 4.)

(b) (1) Of the funding described in subdivision (a), the Legislature hereby allocates funds to the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education to provide centers with the monthly cost of care plus rate commencing January 1, 2024, and to June 30, 2025, inclusive. The amount per child shall range between one hundred forty dollars ($140) and two hundred eleven dollars ($211), per month, to be determined based on the region in which the center is located pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3). The state shall provide the amount of the monthly cost of care plus rate for all centers serving children described in this paragraph based on the number of subsidized children enrolled. This monthly rate shall be issued to centers based on monthly child enrollments for subsidized childcare and development and state preschool programs.

(2) Per-child rate amounts shall be as follows:

(A) For centers in the central region, one hundred forty dollars ($140).

(B) For centers in the northern region, one hundred forty-one dollars ($141).

(C) For centers in the southern region, one hundred sixty dollars ($160).

(D) For centers in the Los Angeles region, one hundred seventy-one dollars ($171).

(E) For centers in the bay area region, two hundred eleven dollars ($211).

(3) Regions are defined as follows:

(A) The central region includes the Counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, and Tulare.

(B) The northern region includes the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba.

(C) The southern region includes the Counties of Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

(D) The Los Angeles region includes the County of Los Angeles only.

(E) The bay area region includes the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma.

(i) For centers in the central region, one hundred fifty-two dollars ($152).

(ii) For centers in the northern region, one hundred fifty-four dollars ($154).

(iii) For centers in the southern region, one hundred seventy-four dollars ($174).

(iv) For centers in the Los Angeles region, one hundred eighty-six dollars ($186).

(v) For centers in the bay area region, two hundred thirty dollars ($230).

(B) The regions described in this paragraph are the same as those defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).

(4) If this subdivision is in conflict with a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Section 10426, the memorandum of understanding shall be controlling without further legislative action, except that if the provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure of funds, the provisions shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature.

(d) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall provide centers with a one-time, per-child stabilization payment in the amount of four hundred thirty-one dollars ($431) in the 2025–26 fiscal year. The four-hundred-thirty-one-dollar ($431) per-child payment shall be provided to all centers who provided subsidized childcare and development or state preschool program services in the month of April 2025, based on enrollment numbers for that month.

(e) The monthly and one-time, per-child stabilization payments described in this section shall be payable to centers operating or serving programs pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10225) of, migrant childcare and development programs pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 10235) of, a general childcare and development program pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10240) of, a family childcare home education network pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10250) of, childcare and development services for children with special needs pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 10260) of, or the CalWORKs Stage 1, Stage 2, or Stage 3 program pursuant to Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 10370) of, Part 1.8 of Division 9 of this code, or the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11461.6) of Part 2 of this code, or Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 8200) of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code.

(f) In addition to the monthly rates and one-time, per-child stabilization payments described in this section, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall provide contractors, or any other agency designated to distribute payments to these centers, with a 10-percent administrative fee for processing the monthly rates and a 5-percent administrative fee for processing the one-time, per-child stabilization payments. For payments provided after June 30, 2025, the 10-percent administrative fee for processing the monthly rates shall only apply to the monthly rate amounts specified in subdivision (b).

(g) The State Department of Education shall allocate funding for distribution of payments to state preschool program contractors, and the State Department of Social Services shall allocate funding for distribution of payments to contractors participating in State Department of Social Services subsidized childcare and development programs.

(h) The State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall exchange any essential data necessary to issue payments to centers.

(i) The state may designate another agency or agencies to distribute the funds described in subdivision(d) to centers. Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual and shall not be subject to the review or approval of the Department of General Services.

(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of childcare contractors and providers to pass on rates and flat-rate one-time, per-child stabilization payments pursuant to this section to their employees in the form of compensation, including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, and direct benefits.