39-708c. Powers and duties of secretary of social and rehabilitation services; community work experience programs; disbursal of property including food stamps; division of services for the blind; chil
39-708c
39-708c. Powers and duties of secretary of social and rehabilitationservices; community work experience programs; disbursal of property includingfood stamps; division of services for the blind; children and youth serviceprogram; medical care for needy persons; payment schedules for health careproviders; centralized payment of welfare expenditures.(a) The secretary of social and rehabilitation services shall develop stateplans, as provided under the federal social security act, whereby the statecooperates with the federal government in its program of assisting the statesfinancially in furnishing assistance and services to eligible individuals. Thesecretary shall undertake to cooperate with the federal government on any otherfederal program providing federal financial assistance and services in thefield of social welfare not inconsistent with this act. The secretary is notrequired to develop a state plan for participation or cooperation in allfederal social security act programs or other federal programs that areavailable. The secretary shall also have the power, but is not required, todevelop a state plan in regard to assistance and services in which the federalgovernment does not participate.
(b) The secretary shall have the power and duty to determine the generalpolicies relating to all forms of social welfare which are administered orsupervised by the secretary and to adopt the rules and regulations therefor.
(c) The secretary shall hire, in accordance with the provisions of theKansas civil service act, such employees as may be needed, in the judgment ofthe secretary, to carry out the provisions of this act. The secretary shalladvise the governor and the legislature on all social welfare matters coveredin this act.
(d) The secretary shall establish and maintain intake offices throughout thestate. The secretary may establish and create area offices to coordinate andsupervise the administration of the intake offices located within the area. Thenumber and location of intake offices and area offices shall be within thediscretion of the secretary. Each intake office shall be open at least12 hours of each working week on a regularly scheduled basis. The secretaryshallsupervise all social welfare activities of the intake offices and area offices.The secretary may lease office or business space, but no lease or rentalcontract shall be for a period to exceed 10 years. A person desiring publicassistance, or if the person is incapable or incapacitated, a relative, friend,personal representative or conservator of the person shall make application atthe intake office. When it is necessary, employees may take applicationselsewhere at any time. The applications shall contain a statement of the amountof property, both personal and real, in which the applicant has an interest andof all income which the applicant may have at the time of the filing of theapplication and such other information as may be required by the secretary.When a husband and wife are living together the combined income or resources ofboth shall be considered in determining the eligibility of either or both forassistance unless otherwise prohibited by law. The form of application, theprocedure for the determination of eligibility and the amount andkind of assistance or service shall be determined by the secretary.
(e) The secretary shall provide special inservice training foremployees of the secretary and may provide the training as a part ofthe job or at accredited educational institutions.
(f) The secretary shall establish an adequate system of financialrecords. The secretary shall make annual reports to the governor andshall make any reports required by federal agencies.
(g) The secretary shall sponsor, operate or supervise community workexperience programs whereby recipients of assistance shall work out a part orall of their assistance and conserve work skills and develop new skills. Thecompensation credited to recipients for the programs shall be based upon anhourly rate equal to or in excess of the federal minimum wage hourly rate. Theprograms shall be administered by the secretary. In the programs, the secretaryshall provide protection to the recipient under the workmen's compensation actor shall provide comparable protection and may enter into cooperativearrangements with other public officials and agencies or with privatenot-for-profit corporations providing assistance to needy persons indeveloping, subject to the approval of the secretary, the programs under thissection.
(h) The secretary may receive, have custody of, protect, administer,disburse, dispose of and account for federal or private commodities,equipment, supplies and any kind of property, including food stamps orcoupons, which are given, granted, loaned or advanced to the state ofKansas for social welfare works, and for any other purposes provided forby federal laws or rules and regulations or by private devise, grant orloan, or from corporations organized to act as federal agencies, and todo all things and acts which are necessary or required toperform the functions and carry out the provisions of federal laws,rules and regulations under which such commodities, equipment, suppliesand other property may be given, granted, loaned or advanced to thestate of Kansas, and to act as an agent of the federal government whendesignated as an agent, and do and perform all things and acts that may berequired by the federal laws or rules and regulations not inconsistentwith the act.
(i) The secretary may assist other departments, agencies andinstitutions of the state and federal government and of other statesunder interstate agreements, when so requested, by performing servicesin conformity with the purpose of this act.
(j) The secretary shall have authority to lease real and personalproperty whenever the property is not available through the state or apolitical subdivision of the state, for carrying on the functions of thesecretary.
(k) All contracts shall be made in the name of "secretary of socialand rehabilitation services," and in that name the secretary may sue andbe sued on such contracts. The grant of authority under this subsectionshall not be construed to be a waiver of any rights retained by the stateunder the 11th amendment to the United States constitution and shall besubject to and shall not supersede the provisions of any appropriationsact of this state.
(l) All moneys and property of any kind whatsoever received from theKansas emergency relief committee or from any other state department orpolitical subdivision of the state shall be used by the secretary in theadministration and promotion of social welfare in the state of Kansas. Theproperty may be given, loaned or placed at the disposal of anycounty, city or state agency engaged in the promotion of social welfare.
(m) The secretary shall prepare annually, at the time and in theform directed by the governor, a budget covering the estimatedreceipts and expenditures of the secretary for the ensuing year.
(n) The secretary shall have authority to make grants of funds,commodities or other needed property to local units of government underrules and regulations adopted by the secretary for the promotionof social welfare in local units of government.
(o) The secretary shall have authority to sell any property in thesecretary's possession received from any source whatsoever for whichthere is no need or use in the administration or the promotion of socialwelfare in the state of Kansas.
(p) The secretary shall adopt a seal.
(q) The secretary shall initiate or cooperate with other agencies indeveloping programs for the prevention of blindness, the restoration ofeyesight and the vocational rehabilitation of blind persons and shallestablish a division of services for the blind. The secretary mayinitiate or cooperate with other agencies in developing programs for theprevention and rehabilitation of other handicapped persons.
(r) The secretary shall develop a children and youth service programand shall administer or supervise program activities including the careand protection of children who are deprived, defective, wayward, miscreant,delinquent or children in need of care. The secretary shall cooperate with thefederalgovernment through its appropriate agency or instrumentality in establishing,extending and strengthening such services and undertake other services tochildren authorized by law. Nothing in this act shall be construed asauthorizing any state official, agent or representative, in carrying out any ofthe provisions of this act, to take charge of any child over the objection ofeither of the parents of such child or of the person standing inloco parentis to such child except pursuant to a proper court order.
(s) The secretary shall develop plans financed by federal funds or statefunds or both for providing medical care for needy persons. The secretary, indeveloping the plan, may enter into an agreement with an agent or intermediaryfor the purpose of performing certain functions, including the making ofmedical payment reviews, determining the amount due the medical vendors fromthe state in accordance with standards set by the secretary, preparing andcertifying to the secretary lists of medical vendors and the amounts due themand other related functions determined by the secretary. The secretary may alsoprovide medical, remedial, preventive or rehabilitative care and services forneedy persons by the payment of premiums to the federal social security systemfor the purchase of supplemental medical insurance benefits as provided by thefederal social security act and amendments thereto.Medicaid recipients who wereresidents of a nursing facility on September 1, 1991, and who subsequently losteligibility in the period September 1, 1991, through June 30, 1992, due to anincrease in income shall be considered to meet the 300% income cap eligibilitytest.
(t) The secretary shall carry on research and compile statisticsrelative to the entire social welfare program throughout the state,including all phases of dependency, defectiveness, delinquency andrelated problems; develop plans in cooperation with other public andprivate agencies for the prevention as well as treatment of conditionsgiving rise to social welfare problems.
(u) The secretary may receive grants, gifts, bequests, money or aid of anycharacter whatsoever, for state welfare work. All moneys coming into the handsof the secretary shall be deposited in the state social welfare fund providedfor in this act.
(v) The secretary may enter into agreements with other states or the welfaredepartment of other states, in regard to the manner of determining the state ofresidence in disputed cases, the manner of returning persons to the place ofresidence and the bearing or sharing of the costs.
(w) The secretary shall perform any other duties and services necessary tocarry out the purposes of this act and promote social welfare in the state ofKansas, not inconsistent with the state law.
(x) The secretary shall establish payment schedules for each group of healthcare providers. Any payment schedules which are a part of the state medicaidplan shall conform to state and federal law. The secretary shall not berequired to make any payments under the state medicaid plan which do not meetrequirements for state and federal financial participation.
(1) The secretary shall consider budgetary constraints as a factor inestablishing payment schedules so long as the result complies with stateand federal law.
(2) The secretary shall establish payment schedules for providers ofhospital and adult care home services under the medicaid plan that arereasonable and adequate to meet the costs which must be incurred byefficiently and economically operated facilities in order to provide careand services in conformity with applicable state and federal laws,regulations, and quality and safety standards. The secretary shall not berequired to establish rates for any such facility that are in excess of theminimum necessary to efficiently and economically meet those standardsregardless of any excess costs incurred by any such facility.
(y) The secretary shall maintain a system of centralized payment forall welfare expenditures.
History: L. 1973, ch. 186, § 3;L. 1975, ch. 237, § 1;L. 1978, ch. 159, § 2;L. 1980, ch. 272, § 1;L. 1982, ch. 182, § 132;L. 1983, ch. 143, § 2;L. 1985, ch. 114, § 24;L. 1990, ch. 152, § 1;L. 1992, ch. 322, § 5;L. 1995, ch. 153, § 1;L. 1996, ch. 229, § 104; July 1, 1997.