125.10  Duties of director.
  The director shall:
  1.  Prepare and submit a state plan subject to approval by the council and in accordance with 42 U.S.C. §300x-21 et seq. The state plan shall designate the department as the sole agency for supervising the administration of the plan.
  2.  Develop, encourage, and foster statewide, regional, and local plans and programs for the prevention of substance use disorder and the treatment of persons with a substance use disorder in cooperation with public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals, and provide technical assistance and consultation services for these purposes.
  3.  Coordinate the efforts and enlist the assistance of all public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals interested in the prevention of substance use disorder and the treatment of persons with a substance use disorder. The director’s actions to implement this subsection shall also address the treatment needs of persons who have a mental illness, an intellectual disability, brain injury, or other co-occurring condition in addition to a substance use disorder.
  4.  Cooperate with the department in establishing and conducting programs to provide treatment for persons with a substance use disorder.
  5.  Cooperate with the department of education, boards of education, schools, police departments, courts, and other public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals in establishing programs for the prevention of substance use disorder and the treatment of persons with a substance use disorder, and in preparing relevant curriculum materials for use at all levels of school education.
  6.  Prepare, publish, evaluate, and disseminate educational material dealing with the nature and effects of chemical substances.
  7.  Develop and implement, as an integral part of treatment programs, an educational program for use in the treatment of persons with a substance use disorder, which program shall include the dissemination of information concerning the nature and effects of substances.
  8.  Organize and implement, in cooperation with local treatment programs, training programs for all persons engaged in treatment of persons with a substance use disorder.
  9.  Sponsor and implement research in cooperation with local treatment programs into the causes and nature of substance use disorder and treatment of persons with a substance use disorder, and serve as a clearing house for information relating to substance use disorder.
  10.  Specify uniform methods for keeping statistical information by public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals, and collect and make available relevant statistical information, including number of persons treated, frequency of admission and readmission, and frequency and duration of treatment.
  11.  Develop and implement, with the counsel and approval of the council, the comprehensive plan for treatment of persons with a substance use disorder in accordance with this chapter.
  12.  Assist in the development of, and cooperate with, substance use disorder education and treatment programs for employees of state and local governments and businesses and industries in the state.
  13.  Utilize the support and assistance of interested persons in the community, particularly persons who are recovering from a substance use disorder to encourage persons with a substance use disorder to voluntarily undergo treatment.
  14.  Cooperate with the commissioner of public safety in establishing and conducting programs designed to deal with the problem of persons operating motor vehicles while intoxicated.
  15.  Encourage general hospitals and other appropriate health facilities to admit without discrimination persons with a substance use disorder and to provide them with adequate and appropriate treatment. The director may negotiate and implement contracts with hospitals and other appropriate health facilities with adequate detoxification facilities.
  16.  Encourage all health and disability insurance programs to include substance use disorders as covered illnesses.
  17.  Review all state health, welfare, education, and treatment proposals to be submitted for federal funding under federal legislation, and advise the governor on provisions to be included relating to substance use disorder and persons with a substance use disorder.
[C62, 66, §123A.5; C71, 73, §123B.17; C75, 77, §125.10, 224B.5; C79, 81, §125.10; 81 Acts, ch 58, §3]
83 Acts, ch 96, §157, 159; 90 Acts, ch 1085, §4; 2005 Acts, ch 175, §64; 2011 Acts, ch 121, §30, 62; 2012 Acts, ch 1021, §41; 2012 Acts, ch 1120, §62; 2014 Acts, ch 1092, §30, 167; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §83
Referred to in §125.3, 125.7
Section amended