(a) The department may:

(1) Make grants and contracts under terms and conditions that the commissioner prescribes to any county, city, or profit or nonprofit corporation or any combination of them for the construction, maintenance or operation of facilities, programs, or an array of high quality prevention, early intervention, treatment, and habilitation services and supports for service recipients and their families;

(2) Enter into cooperative programs for the construction, maintenance or operation of facilities, programs or services to provide care, habilitation and treatment for service recipients;

(3) Make and enforce rules that are necessary for the efficient financial management and lawful operation of the facilities, programs or services;

(4) Construct, maintain and operate the facilities, programs or services; and

(5) With the approval of the commissioner of finance and administration and the comptroller of the treasury, establish or cause to be established revolving loan fund programs to assist recipients of publicly funded services under this title to acquire or maintain affordable housing.

(b)

(1) Each governing body of the facility, program, or service shall have an annual audit made of its accounts and records. The comptroller of the treasury, through the department of audit, shall be responsible for ensuring that the audits are prepared in accordance with generally accepted governmental auditing standards and determining if the audits meet minimum audit standards that shall be prescribed by the comptroller of the treasury. No audit may be accepted as meeting the requirements of this subsection (b) until the audit has been approved by the comptroller of the treasury. The audits may be prepared by the department of audit, or with the prior written approval of the comptroller, by a licensed independent public accountant.

(2) All audits performed by the internal audit staff of the facility, program, or service shall be conducted in conformity with the standards established by the comptroller of the treasury under § 4-3-304(9).