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Cal. WIC § 10371

This is the official text of Cal. WIC § 10371, part of California’s Welfare and Institutions Code — governs public social services, juvenile justice, and mental health/developmental disability services.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) The county welfare department shall manage the first stage during which a family shall receive a child care subsidy for any legal care chosen by the parent. The first stage begins upon the entry of a person into the program prescribed by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3.

(b) A county shall move recipients out of this first response stage as quickly as possible after the county determines that the need for child care is stable. A recipient may be served in this stage for a maximum of six months. The six-month time limit may be extended if the county determines that the recipient’s situation is too unstable to be shifted to the second stage or if no funds are available to provide child care services in the second stage.

(c) Former CalWORKs recipients who cannot be transitioned from the first stage of child care because no funded slot is available are eligible to receive the first stage and any subsequent stage two child care services for up to a total of 24 months after they leave cash aid, or until they are otherwise ineligible within that 24-month period. Family size and income for purposes of determining eligibility and family fee shall be determined pursuant to Sections 10271 and 10271.5.

(d) The county welfare department shall also begin the first stage of child care when an individual who applies for aid under the program described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 is participating as a volunteer pursuant to Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320) of Chapter 2 of Part 3.

(e) A county may contract with public or private child care providers to provide any or all of the services during the first stage. If the county welfare department elects to contract with any child care provider that is also under contract with the department, these contracts shall be consistent with state law.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.