Welf. & Inst. Code, § 10277.6

(a) Funding shall be allocated from funds appropriated to the State Department of Social Services in Schedule (3) of Item 5180-101-0001 of the Budget Act of 2026, if consistent with that item, to provide a once-per-month, per-child-served cost of care plus rate for providers serving children enrolled in the following subsidized childcare programs:

(1) Alternative payment programs, including migrant alternative payment programs (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10225)).

(2) Migrant childcare and development programs (Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 10235)).

(3) General childcare and development programs (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10240)).

(4) Family childcare home education networks (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10250)).

(5) Childcare and development services for children with special needs (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 10260)).

(6) CalWORKs Stage 1, Stage 2, or Stage 3 programs (Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 10370)).

(7) Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children (Section 11461.6).

(b) (1) Of the funding described in subdivision (a), funding is hereby allocated to the State Department of Social Services to provide childcare providers with a monthly cost of care plus rate increase commencing July 1, 2026. The increase per child shall be equal to the amount calculated in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2).

(2) The Department of Finance shall make the following calculations based on data provided by the State Department of Social Services:

(A) The total cost of providing the statutory cost-of-living adjustment for childcare programs in the 2026–27 fiscal year pursuant to Section 42238.15 of the Education Code for the subsidized childcare programs described in subdivision (a).

(B) The estimated cost of providing the monthly cost of care plus rates described in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 10277.1 and paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 10277.2 in the 2026–27 fiscal year based on the estimates of child enrollment in 2026–27 provided by the State Department of Social Services.

(C) Divide the amount calculated in subparagraph (A) by the amount calculated in subparagraph (B).

(D) Notwithstanding any other law, the cost-of-living adjustment for the 2026–27 fiscal year shall be 2.009 percent for the purpose of the calculation in this paragraph.