37-1-20

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37-1-20.
(a) The Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases shall be a division of the department and shall be managed by a director whose qualifications meet standards set by the board.
(b) The department, through the division, shall:
(1) Establish, administer, and supervise the state programs for mental health, developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases;
(2) Direct, supervise, and control the medical and physical care, treatment, and rehabilitation provided by the institutions and programs under its control, management, or supervision;
(3) Have authority to contract for services with: community service boards, private agencies, and other public entities for the provision of services within a service area so as to provide an adequate array of services, choice of providers for consumers, and to comply with the applicable federal laws, rules and regulations related to public or private hospitals; hospital authorities; medical schools, and training and educational institutions; departments and agencies of this state; county or municipal governments; any person, partnership, corporation, or association, whether public or private; the United States government or the government of any other state;
(4) Establish and support programs for the training of professional and technical personnel as well as regional planning boards and community service boards;
(5) Have authority to conduct research into the causes and treatment of disability and into the means of effectively promoting mental health;
(6) Assign specific responsibility to one or more units of the division for the development of a disability prevention program. The objectives of such program shall include, but are not limited to, monitoring of completed and ongoing research related to the prevention of disability, implementation of programs known to be preventive, and testing, where practical, of those measures having a substantive potential for the prevention of disability;
(7) Establish a system for regional administration of mental health, developmental disability, and addictive disease services in institutions and in the community under the supervision of a regional coordinator;
(8) Make and administer budget allocations to regional offices of the division established by the board pursuant to Code Section 37-2-4.1, to fund the operation of mental health, developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases facilities and programs;
(9) Coordinate in consultation with providers, professionals, and other experts the development of appropriate outcome measures for client centered service delivery systems;
(10) Establish, operate, supervise, and staff programs and facilities for the treatment of disabilities throughout this state;
(11) Disseminate information about available services and the facilities through which such services may be obtained;
(12) Supervise the regional officés exercise of its responsibility and authority concerning funding and delivery of disability services;
(13) Supervise the regional offices concerning the receipt and administration of grants, gifts, moneys, and donations for purposes pertaining to mental health, developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases;
(14) Supervise the regional offices concerning making contracts with any hospital, community service board, or any public or private providers without regard to regional or state boundaries for the provision of disability services and in making and entering into all contracts necessary or incidental to the performance of the duties and functions of the division and the regional offices;
(15) Regulate the delivery of care, including behavioral interventions and medication administration by licensed staff, or certified staff as determined by the division, within residential settings serving only persons who are receiving services authorized or financed, in whole or in part, by the division; and
(16) Establish 'community living arrangements' which shall be defined as any residence, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for the provision of housing, food, one or more personal services, supports, care, or treatment exclusively for two or more persons who are not related to the owner or administrator of the residence by blood or marriage and whose services are financially supported, in whole or in part, by funds authorized through the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases of the Department of Human Resources.
(c) The department shall:
(1) Establish a unit of the department which shall receive and consider complaints from individuals receiving services, make recommendations to the director of the division regarding such complaints, and ensure that the rights of individuals receiving services are fully protected;
(2) Exercise all powers and duties provided for in this title or which may be deemed necessary to effectuate the purposes of this title;
(3) Assign specific responsibility to one or more units of the division for the development of programs designed to serve disabled infants, children, and youth. To the extent practicable, such units shall cooperate with the Georgia Department of Education and the University System of Georgia in developing such programs; and
(4) Classify and license community living arrangements, as defined in paragraph (16) of subsection (b) of this Code section, in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the department for the licensing of community living arrangements and the enforcement of licensing requirements. To be eligible for licensing as a community living arrangement, the residence and services provided must be integrated within the local community. All community living arrangements licensed by the department shall be subject to the provisions of Code Sections 31-2-6 and 31-7-2.2. No person, business entity, corporation, or association, whether operated for profit or not for profit, may operate a community living arrangement without first obtaining a license or provisional license from the department. A license issued under this article is not assignable or transferable.