Section 19-13-21. Powers and duties of department

   (a) It shall be the duty of the department:

   (1) To establish minimum standards for an approved family violence shelter to enable such shelter to receive state funds;

   (2) To receive applications for the development and establishment of family violence shelters;

   (3) To approve or reject each application within 60 days of receipt of the application;

   (4) To distribute funds to an approved shelter as funds become available;

   (5) To fund other family violence programs as funds become available, provided that such programs meet standards established by the department; and

   (6) To evaluate annually each family violence shelter for compliance with the minimum standards.

(b) Without using designated shelter funds, the department may:

   (1) Formulate and conduct a research and evaluation program on family violence and cooperate with and assist and participate in programs of other properly qualified agencies, including any agency of the federal government, schools of medicine, hospitals, and clinics, in planning and conducting research on the prevention of family violence and the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of persons engaged in or subject to family violence;

   (2) Serve as a clearing-house for information relating to family violence;

   (3) Carry on educational programs on family violence for the benefit of the general public, persons engaged in or subject to family violence, professional persons, or others who care for or may be engaged in the care and treatment of persons engaged in or subject to family violence; and

   (4) Enlist the assistance of public and voluntary health, education, welfare, and rehabilitation agencies in a concerted effort to prevent family violence and to treat persons engaged in or subject to family violence.

Ga. L. 1981, p. 663, § 2; Ga. L. 1983, p. 521, § 2; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1287, § 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 819, § 2.