37.2-304 - Duties of Commissioner.
§ 37.2-304. Duties of Commissioner.
The Commissioner shall be the chief executive officer of the Department andshall have the following duties and powers:
1. To supervise and manage the Department and its state facilities.
2. To employ the personnel required to carry out the purposes of this title.
3. To make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary orincidental to the performance of the Department's duties and the execution ofits powers under this title, including contracts with the United States,other states, and agencies and governmental subdivisions of the Commonwealth,consistent with policies and regulations of the Board and applicable federaland state statutes and regulations.
4. To accept, hold, and enjoy gifts, donations, and bequests on behalf of theDepartment from the United States government, agencies and instrumentalitiesthereof, and any other source, subject to the approval of the Governor. Tothese ends, the Commissioner shall have the power to comply with conditionsand execute agreements that may be necessary, convenient, or desirable,consistent with policies and regulations of the Board.
5. To accept, execute, and administer any trust in which the Department mayhave an interest, under the terms of the instruments creating the trust,subject to the approval of the Governor.
6. To transfer between state hospitals and training centers school-ageconsumers who have been identified as appropriate to be placed in publicschool programs and to negotiate with other school divisions for placementsin order to ameliorate the impact on those school divisions located in ajurisdiction in which a state hospital or training center is located.
7. To provide to the Director of the Virginia Office for Protection andAdvocacy, pursuant to § 51.5-39.12, a written report setting forth the knownfacts of critical incidents or deaths of consumers in facilities within 15working days of the critical incident or death.
8. To work with the appropriate state and federal entities to ensure that anyperson who has been a consumer in a state facility for more than one year haspossession of or receives prior to discharge any of the following documents,when they are needed to obtain the services contained in his discharge plan:a Department of Motor Vehicles approved identification card that will expire90 days from issuance, a copy of his birth certificate if the consumer wasborn in the Commonwealth, or a social security card from the Social SecurityAdministration. State facility directors, as part of their responsibilitiespursuant to § 37.2-837, shall implement this provision when dischargingconsumers.
9. To work with the Department of Veterans Services and the Department ofRehabilitative Services to establish a program for mental health andrehabilitative services for Virginia veterans and members of the VirginiaNational Guard and Virginia residents in the Armed Forces Reserves not inactive federal service and their family members pursuant to § 2.2-2001.1.
Unless specifically authorized by the Governor to accept or undertakeactivities for compensation, the Commissioner shall devote his entire time tohis duties.
(1976, c. 671, § 37.1-42.1; 1980, c. 582; 1985, c. 158; 2000, cc. 565, 610;2002, c. 572; 2003, c. 516; 2005, c. 716; 2008, cc. 584, 754.)