(a) The Commission is hereby authorized and directed to formulate and to be responsible for the administration and operation of a comprehensive and detailed plan for the purposes specified in Section 175.1 et seq. of this title, and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary or desirable for the administration of this plan and the implementation of the provisions of this act.
(b) The Commission shall receive and expend in accordance with such plan all necessary funds made available to it by the United States government, by the state or its political subdivisions, or by any other sources for such purposes.
(c) The Commission shall cooperate with the federal government, through its appropriate agency, in developing, extending, and improving such services, and in the administration of the plan.
(d) The Commission shall establish and maintain such methods of administration, including those necessary to establish and maintain a merit system of personnel administration, as are necessary for effective and efficient operation of the plan; shall maintain records and prepare reports of services rendered; and shall cooperate with health, medical, dental, nursing and welfare agencies and organizations, and with any other agency of this state charged with the administration of laws providing for the vocational or remedial rehabilitation of handicapped children.
(e) The Director is hereby authorized and directed to perform all the duties and functions now performed by the Director of the Oklahoma Commission for Crippled Children and such other duties relating to the Children with Special Health Care Needs Program as may be assigned to the Director by the Commission. The Director is hereby authorized and directed, subject to the control of the Commission, to set up in the Department of Public Welfare a unit to be charged primarily with responsibility in the field of health services for crippled children, including the planning, promoting and coordinating of crippled children's services. The Director is hereby authorized to delegate to the Supervisor of such unit of the Department such authority as is necessary under the laws of the federal government and rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, necessary to carry out the provisions of this act, subject to the administrative supervision of the Director.
(f) The Commission is authorized to create positions, fix salaries and employ necessary professional and clerical personnel, to appoint advisory committees or consultants, and to pay necessary travel expenses.
(g) The Commission shall have authority to provide for the expenditure of all funds for the administration and operation of the program as specified in this act, including payment for physician's and dentist's services if payment is recommended by the council of the Oklahoma State Medical Association or the Executive Council of the Oklahoma Dental Association.
(h) The Commission is hereby authorized and directed to formulate plans and procedures and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the care of children with emergency conditions.
Laws 1959, p. 30, § 5; Laws 1992, c. 249, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1992.