234.6  Powers and duties of the director.
  1.  The director shall administer the family investment program, state supplementary assistance, food programs, child welfare, and emergency relief, family and adult service programs, and any other form of public assistance and institutions that are placed under the director’s administration. The director shall perform duties, formulate and adopt rules as necessary, and outline policies, dictate procedure, and delegate powers as necessary for competent and efficient administration. Subject to restrictions that may be imposed by the council, the director may abolish, alter, consolidate, or establish subunits and abolish or change existing subunits. The director may employ necessary personnel and determine their compensation; may allocate or reallocate functions and duties among subunits; and may adopt rules relating to the employment of personnel and the allocation of their functions and duties among the various subunits as required for competent and efficient administration. The director shall do all of the following:
  a.  Cooperate with the social security administration created by the Social Security Act and codified at 42 U.S.C. §901, or other agency of the federal government for public assistance, in such reasonable manner as may be necessary to qualify for federal aid, including the making of such reports in such form and containing such information as the social security administration, from time to time, may require, and to comply with such regulations as such social security administration, from time to time, may find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports.
  b.  Furnish information to acquaint the public generally with the operation of the federal Acts under the director’s jurisdiction.
  c.  With the approval of the governor, the director of the department of management, and the director of the department of administrative services, establish an administrative fund from the funds under the director’s control and management and from the administrative fund pay the expenses of operating the department’s duties under this chapter.
  d.  Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in chapter 239B relating to the consideration of income and resources of claimants for assistance, and with the consent and approval of the council, adopt rules necessary to qualify for federal aid in the assistance programs administered by the director.
  e.  Use funds available to the department, subject to any limitations placed on the use of the funds by the legislation appropriating the funds, to provide to or purchase, for eligible families and individuals, services including but not limited to the following:
  (1)  Child care for children or adult day services, in facilities which are licensed or are approved as meeting standards for licensure.
  (2)  Foster care, including foster family care, group homes, and institutions.
  (3)  Family-centered services, as defined in section 232.102A, subsection 1, paragraph “b”.
  (4)  Family planning.
  (5)  Protective services.
  (6)  Services or support provided to a child with an intellectual disability or other developmental disability or to the child’s family.
  (7)  Transportation services.
  (8)  Any services, not otherwise enumerated in this paragraph “e”, authorized by or pursuant to the United States Social Security Act of 1934, as amended.
  f.  Administer the food programs authorized by federal law, and recommend rules necessary in the administration of those programs for adoption pursuant to chapter 17A.
  g.  Provide consulting and technical services to the director of the department of education, or the director’s designee, upon request, relating to prekindergarten, kindergarten, and before and after school programming and facilities.
  h.  Recommend rules for their adoption by the council for before and after school child care programs, conducted within and by or contracted for by school districts, that are appropriate for the ages of the children who receive services under the programs.
  2.  The department may use the funds available to purchase services of all kinds from public or private agencies to provide for the needs of children, including but not limited to psychiatric services, supervision, specialized group, foster homes, and institutional care.
  3.  In determining the reimbursement rate for services purchased by the department from a person or agency, the department shall not include private moneys contributed to the person or agency unless the moneys are contributed for services provided to a specific individual.
[C39, §3661.007; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §234.6]
88 Acts, ch 1134, §56; 89 Acts, ch 206, §2; 92 Acts, ch 1229, §21 – 23; 93 Acts, ch 97, §28; 97 Acts, ch 41, §32; 99 Acts, ch 111, §5, 7; 99 Acts, ch 192, §28; 2001 Acts, ch 64, §5; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2007 Acts, ch 172, §10; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §180; 2012 Acts, ch 1019, §92; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §60; 2015 Acts, ch 29, §114; 2016 Acts, ch 1073, §84; 2017 Acts, ch 29, §55, 56; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §75; 2022 Acts, ch 1098, §82; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §671
Referred to in §234.38
Section amended