2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 42 - State Affairs and Government › Chapter 42-7.2 - Office of Health and Human Services › Section 42-7.2-6.1. - Transfer of powers and functions.

§ 42-7.2-6.1. Transfer of powers and functions.
(a)
There are hereby transferred to the executive office of health and human services the powers and functions of the departments with respect to the following:
(1)
Fiscal services including budget preparation and review, financial management, purchasing and accounting and any related functions and duties deemed necessary by the secretary;
(2)
Legal services including applying and interpreting the law, oversight to the rulemaking process, and administrative adjudication duties and any related functions and duties deemed necessary by the secretary;
(3)
Communications including those functions and services related to government relations, public education and outreach and media relations and any related functions and duties deemed necessary by the secretary;
(4)
Policy analysis and planning including those functions and services related to the policy development, planning and evaluation and any related functions and duties deemed necessary by the secretary;
(5)
Information systems and data management including the financing, development and maintenance of all data-bases and information systems and platforms as well as any related operations deemed necessary by the secretary;
(6)
Assessment and coordination for long-term care including those functions related to determining level of care or need for services, development of individual service/care plans and planning, identification of service options, the pricing of service options and choice counseling; and
(7)
Program integrity, quality control and collection and recovery functions including any that detect fraud and abuse or assure that beneficiaries, providers, and third-parties pay their fair share of the cost of services, as well as any that promote alternatives to publicly financed services, such as the long-term care health insurance partnership.
(8)
Protective services including any such services provided to children, elders and adults with developmental and other disabilities;
(9)
[Deleted by P.L. 2010, ch. 23, art. 7, § 1].
(10)
The HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs.
(b)
The secretary shall determine in collaboration with the department directors whether the officers, employees, agencies, advisory councils, committees, commissions, and task forces of the departments who were performing such functions shall be transferred to the office.
(c)
In the transference of such functions, the secretary shall be responsible for ensuring:
(1)
Minimal disruption of services to consumers;
(2)
Elimination of duplication of functions and operations;
(3)
Services are coordinated and functions are consolidated where appropriate;
(4)
Clear lines of authority are delineated and followed;
(5)
Cost-savings are achieved whenever feasible;
(6)
Program application and eligibility determination processes are coordinated and, where feasible, integrated; and
(7)
State and federal funds available to the office and the entities therein are allocated and utilized for service delivery to the fullest extent possible.
(d)
Except as provided herein, no provision of this chapter or application thereof shall be construed to limit or otherwise restrict the departments of children, youth and families, human services, health, and behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals from fulfilling any statutory requirement or complying with any regulation deemed otherwise valid.
(e)
The secretary shall prepare and submit to the leadership of the house and senate finance committees, by no later than January 1, 2010, a plan for restructuring functional responsibilities across the departments to establish a consumer centered integrated system of health and human services that provides high quality and cost-effective services at the right time and in the right setting across the life-cycle.
History of Section.
P.L. 2007, ch. 73, art. 3, § 2; P.L. 2009, ch. 68, art. 5, § 1; P.L. 2010, ch. 23, art. 7, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 241, art. 18, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 141, art. 5, § 20.