(a) On or before March 1, 2024, a contractor operating a California state preschool program through a family childcare home education network shall develop, implement, and publish for access by family childcare providers a plan for timely payment to family childcare home providers, including publication in written information for providers and in individual provider agreements. The plan shall include all of the following:

(1) A provision requiring that family childcare providers shall be paid within 21 calendar days of the provider’s submission of daily sign-in and sign-out sheets, as referenced in Section 17818 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2) A schedule for the payment of services that shall be signed by the family childcare provider.

(3) A provision requiring that if a provider submits attendance records or invoices for multiple children and not all individual records or invoices within the submission include adequate information to provide a payment, payments shall not be withheld for those individual records or invoices that include adequate information to provide a payment.

(4) Procedures that establish clear processes and timelines to resolve overpayment and underpayment issues, which shall include the provider’s written consent to recover any overpayment.

(5) A provision that if a contractor is unable to issue reimbursement payments to providers within 21 calendar days pursuant to the requirement specified in paragraph (1) due to extenuating circumstances, including, but not limited to, an emergency or payment system malfunction, the impacted provider shall be notified within a reasonable timeframe of the contractor becoming aware of the circumstance causing the delay of reimbursement payment.

(b) Contractors shall publish the plans developed pursuant to this section for childcare providers to access and reference. The plans shall be published in documents available to providers, such as individual provider agreements, as appropriate.

(c) The department shall support contractors with the development and implementation of the plans prepared pursuant to this section and in compliance with the requirement for timely payments. If the department becomes aware that a contractor is not complying with the requirements of this section, the department may issue a finding of noncompliance, and the contractor may be subject to corrective action.

(d) If the provisions of this section are in conflict with the provisions of a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to § 10426 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the memorandum of understanding shall be controlling without further legislative action, except that if such provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure of funds, the provisions shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 193, Sec. 2. (SB 140) Effective September 13, 2023.)