35A-3-116 - Restricted special revenue fund -- Use of monies -- Committee and director duties -- Restrictions.
35A-3-116. Restricted special revenue fund -- Use of monies -- Committee anddirector duties -- Restrictions.
(1) There is created a restricted special revenue fund, known as the "Refugee ServicesFund," hereafter referred to in this section as "the fund."
(2) The director or the director's designee, hereafter referred to in this section as thedirector, shall administer the fund with input from the Department of Community and Culture,including any advisory committees within the Department of Community and Culture that dealwith refugee services issues.
(3) (a) Money shall be deposited into the fund from numerous sources, including federalgrants, private foundations, and individual donors.
(b) The director shall encourage a refugee who receives services from activities fundedunder Subsection (8) to become a donor to the fund once the refugee's financial situationimproves to the point where the refugee is capable of making a donation.
(4) The director may not expend monies in the fund that are not restricted to a specificuse under federal law or by donors without input from the Department of Community andCulture, either directly or through an advisory committee identified in Subsection (2).
(5) The state treasurer shall invest the monies in the fund under Title 51, Chapter 7, StateMoney Management Act, and all interest or other earnings derived from the fund monies shall bedeposited in the fund.
(6) The monies in the fund may not be used by the director for administrative expenses.
(7) If the Department of Community and Culture establishes a refugee services advisorycommittee referred to in Subsection (2), that committee may:
(a) advise the director on refugee services needs in the state and on relevant operationalaspects of any grant or revenue collection program established under this part;
(b) recommend specific refugee projects to the director;
(c) recommend policies and procedures for administering the fund;
(d) make recommendations on grants made from the fund for any of the refugee servicesactivities authorized under this section;
(e) advise the director on the criteria by which grants shall be made from the fund;
(f) recommend the order in which approved projects would be funded;
(g) make recommendations regarding the distribution of money from the fund inaccordance with the procedures, conditions, and restrictions placed upon monies in the fund bydonors; and
(h) have joint responsibility to solicit public and private funding for the fund.
(8) The director may use fund monies to:
(a) train an existing refugee organization to develop its capacity to operate professionallyand effectively and to become an independent, viable organization; or
(b) provide grants to an existing refugee organization and other entities identified inSubsection (9) to assist them:
(i) with case management;
(ii) in meeting emergency housing needs for refugees;
(iii) in providing English language services;
(iv) in providing interpretive services;
(v) in finding and maintaining employment for refugees;
(vi) in collaborating with the state's public education system to improve the involvement
of refugee parents in assimilating their children into public schools;
(vii) in meeting the health and mental health needs of refugees;
(viii) in providing or arranging for child care services; or
(ix) in administering refugee services.
(9) In addition to Subsection (8), the director with advice from the Department ofCommunity and Culture or its refugee services advisory committee, if one is created, may grantfund money for refugee services outlined in Subsection (8) through a request for proposal processto:
(a) local governments;
(b) nonprofit community, charitable, or neighborhood-based organizations or private forprofit organizations that deal solely or in part with providing or arranging for the provision ofrefugee services; or
(c) regional or statewide nonprofit organizations.
(10) The director shall enter into a written agreement with each successful grantapplicant that has specific terms for each grant consistent with the provisions of this section thatincludes the structure, amount, and nature of the grant.
(11) The director shall monitor the activities of the recipients of grants issued from thefund on an annual basis to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions imposed on therecipient by the fund.
(12) An entity receiving a grant shall provide the director with periodic accounting ofhow the monies it received from the fund were spent.
(13) By November 1 of each year the director shall make an annual report to theWorkforce Services and Community and Economic Development Interim Committee regardingthe status of the fund and the programs and services funded by the fund.
Amended by Chapter 116, 2009 General Session