10626. (Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 43, Sec. 36.)

(a) The department shall contract with, or award grants to, public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for purposes of this chapter. Those contracts or grants shall be competitively bid pursuant to a request for proposals or applications, either statewide or by specific region or regions. Each contract or grant shall have a term not to exceed five years. Before the end of each contract or grant term, the department shall conduct a timely competitive request for proposals or applications that allows sufficient time for execution of a subsequent contract or grant to avoid a lapse in services.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, contracts necessary 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.