39-708c. Powers and duties of secretary for children and families; community work experience programs; disbursal of property including food stamps; division of services for the blind; children and youth service program; medical care for needy persons; payment schedules for health care providers; centralized payment of welfare expenditures. (a) The secretary for children and families shall develop state plans, as provided under the federal social security act, whereby the state cooperates with the federal government in its program of assisting the states financially in furnishing assistance and services to eligible individuals. The secretary shall undertake to cooperate with the federal government on any other federal program providing federal financial assistance and services in the field of social welfare not inconsistent with this act. The secretary is not required to develop a state plan for participation or cooperation in all federal social security act programs or other federal programs that are available. The secretary shall also have the power, but is not required, to develop a state plan in regard to assistance and services in which the federal government does not participate.

(b) The secretary shall have the power and duty to determine the general policies relating to all forms of social welfare which are administered or supervised by the secretary and to adopt the rules and regulations therefor.

(c) The secretary shall hire, in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas civil service act, such employees as may be needed, in the judgment of the secretary, to carry out the provisions of this act. The secretary shall advise the governor and the legislature on all social welfare matters covered in this act.

(d) The secretary shall establish and maintain intake offices throughout the state. The secretary may establish and create area offices to coordinate and supervise the administration of the intake offices located within the area. The number and location of intake offices and area offices shall be within the discretion of the secretary. Each intake office shall be open at least 12 hours of each working week on a regularly scheduled basis. The secretary shall supervise all social welfare activities of the intake offices and area offices. The secretary may lease office or business space, but no lease or rental contract shall be for a period to exceed 10 years. A person desiring public assistance, or if the person is incapable or incapacitated, a relative, friend, personal representative or conservator of the person shall make application at the intake office. When it is necessary, employees may take applications elsewhere at any time. The applications shall contain a statement of the amount of property, both personal and real, in which the applicant has an interest and of all income which the applicant may have at the time of the filing of the application and such other information as may be required by the secretary. When a husband and wife are living together the combined income or resources of both shall be considered in determining the eligibility of either or both for assistance unless otherwise prohibited by law. The form of application, the procedure for the determination of eligibility and the amount and kind of assistance or service shall be determined by the secretary.

(e) The secretary shall provide special inservice training for employees of the secretary and may provide the training as a part of the job or at accredited educational institutions.

(f) The secretary shall establish an adequate system of financial records. The secretary shall make annual reports to the governor and shall make any reports required by federal agencies.

(g) The secretary shall sponsor, operate or supervise community work experience programs whereby recipients of assistance shall work out a part or all of their assistance and conserve work skills and develop new skills. The compensation credited to recipients for the programs shall be based upon an hourly rate equal to or in excess of the federal minimum wage hourly rate. The programs shall be administered by the secretary. In the programs, the secretary shall provide protection to the recipient under the workmen's compensation act or shall provide comparable protection and may enter into cooperative arrangements with other public officials and agencies or with private not-for-profit corporations providing assistance to needy persons in developing, subject to the approval of the secretary, the programs under this section.

(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 or coupons, which are given, granted, loaned or advanced to the state of Kansas for social welfare works, and for any other purposes provided for by federal laws or rules and regulations or by private devise, grant or loan, or from corporations organized to act as federal agencies, and to do all things and acts which are necessary or required to perform the functions and carry out the provisions of federal laws, rules and regulations under which such commodities, equipment, supplies and other property may be given, granted, loaned or advanced to the state of Kansas, and to act as an agent of the federal government when designated as an agent, and do and perform all things and acts that may be required by the federal laws or rules and regulations not inconsistent with the act.

(i) The secretary may assist other departments, agencies and institutions of the state and federal government and of other states under interstate agreements, when so requested, by performing services in conformity with the purpose of this act.

(j) The secretary shall have authority to lease real and personal property whenever the property is not available through the state or a political subdivision of the state, for carrying on the functions of the secretary.

(k) All contracts shall be made in the name of the secretary for children and families and in that name the secretary may sue and be sued on such contracts. The grant of authority under this subsection shall not be construed to be a waiver of any rights retained by the state under the 11th amendment to the United States constitution and shall be subject to and shall not supersede the provisions of any appropriations act of this state.

(l) All moneys and property of any kind whatsoever received from the Kansas emergency relief committee or from any other state department or political subdivision of the state shall be used by the secretary in the administration and promotion of social welfare in the state of Kansas. The property may be given, loaned or placed at the disposal of any county, city or state agency engaged in the promotion of social welfare.

(m) The secretary shall prepare annually, at the time and in the form directed by the governor, a budget covering the estimated receipts 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 under rules and regulations adopted by the secretary for the promotion of social welfare in local units of government.

(o) The secretary shall have authority to sell any property in the secretary's possession received from any source whatsoever for which there is no need or use in the administration or the promotion of social welfare in the state of Kansas.

(p) The secretary shall adopt a seal.

(q) The secretary shall initiate or cooperate with other agencies in developing programs for the prevention of blindness, the restoration of eyesight and the vocational rehabilitation of blind persons and shall establish a division of services for the blind. The secretary may initiate or cooperate with other agencies in developing programs for the prevention and rehabilitation of other handicapped persons.

(r) The secretary shall develop a children and youth service program and shall administer or supervise program activities including the care and protection of children in need of care, as defined in K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 38-2202, and amendments thereto. The secretary shall cooperate with the federal government through its appropriate agency or instrumentality in establishing, extending and strengthening such services and undertake other services to children authorized by law. Nothing in this act shall be construed as authorizing any state official, agent or representative, in carrying out any of the provisions of this act, to take charge of any child over the objection of either of the parents of such child or of the person standing in loco parentis to such child except pursuant to a proper court order.

(s) The secretary shall develop plans financed by federal funds or state funds or both for providing medical care for needy persons. The secretary, in developing the plan, may enter into an agreement with an agent or intermediary for the purpose of performing certain functions, including the making of medical payment reviews, determining the amount due the medical vendors from the state in accordance with standards set by the secretary, preparing and certifying to the secretary lists of medical vendors and the amounts due them and other related functions determined by the secretary. The secretary may also provide medical, remedial, preventive or rehabilitative care and services for needy persons by the payment of premiums to the federal social security system for the purchase of supplemental medical insurance benefits as provided by the federal social security act and amendments thereto. Medicaid recipients who were residents of a nursing facility on September 1, 1991, and who subsequently lost eligibility in the period September 1, 1991, through June 30, 1992, due to an increase in income shall be considered to meet the 300% income cap eligibility test.

(t) The secretary shall carry on research and compile statistics relative to the entire social welfare program throughout the state; develop plans in cooperation with other public and private agencies for the prevention as well as treatment of conditions giving rise to social welfare problems.

(u) The secretary may receive grants, gifts, bequests, money or aid of any character whatsoever, for state welfare work. All moneys coming into the hands of the secretary shall be deposited in the state social welfare fund provided for in this act.

(v) The secretary may enter into agreements with other states or the welfare department of other states, in regard to the manner of determining the state of residence in disputed cases, the manner of returning persons to the place of residence and the bearing or sharing of the costs.

(w) The secretary shall perform any other duties and services necessary to carry out the purposes of this act and promote social welfare in the state of Kansas, not inconsistent with the state law.

(x) The secretary shall establish payment schedules for each group of health care providers. Any payment schedules which are a part of the state medicaid plan shall conform to state and federal law. The secretary shall not be required to make any payments under the state medicaid plan which do not meet requirements for state and federal financial participation.

(1) The secretary shall consider budgetary constraints as a factor in establishing payment schedules so long as the result complies with state and federal law.

(2) The secretary shall establish payment schedules for providers of hospital and adult care home services under the medicaid plan that are reasonable and adequate to meet the costs which must be incurred by efficiently and economically operated facilities in order to provide care and services in conformity with applicable state and federal laws, regulations, and quality and safety standards. The secretary shall not be required to establish rates for any such facility that are in excess of the minimum necessary to efficiently and economically meet those standards regardless of any excess costs incurred by any such facility.

(y) The secretary shall maintain a system of centralized payment for all 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; L. 2014, ch. 115, § 77; L. 2018, ch. 107, § 15; July 1.