(a) There is established a Department of Social Services. The department head shall be the Commissioner of Social Services, who shall be appointed by the Governor in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-5 to 4-8, inclusive, with the powers and duties therein prescribed.

(b) The Department of Social Services shall constitute a successor department to the Department on Aging, Department of Income Maintenance and the Department of Human Resources in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-38d and 4-39.

(c) Wherever the words “Commissioner on Aging”, “Commissioner of Income Maintenance” or “Commissioner of Human Resources” are used in the general statutes, the words “Commissioner of Social Services” shall be substituted in lieu thereof. Wherever the words “Department on Aging”, “Department of Income Maintenance” or “Department of Human Resources” are used in the general statutes, “Department of Social Services” shall be substituted in lieu thereof.

(d) Any order or regulation of the Department of Income Maintenance, the Department of Human Resources or the Department on Aging which is in force on July 1, 1993, shall continue in force and effect as an order or regulation of the Department of Social Services until amended, repealed or superseded pursuant to law. Any order or regulation of the Department on Aging which is in force on the effective date of this section shall continue in force and effect as an order or regulation of the Department of Social Services until amended, repealed or superseded pursuant to law. Where any order or regulation of said departments conflict, the Commissioner of Social Services may implement policies and procedures consistent with the provisions of public act 93-262* while in the process of adopting the policy or procedure in regulation form, provided notice of intention to adopt the regulations is printed in the Connecticut Law Journal within twenty days of implementation. The policy or procedure shall be valid until the time final regulations are effective.

(e) The functions, powers, duties and personnel of the Department on Aging, or any subsequent division or portion of a division with similar functions, powers, personnel and duties, shall be transferred to the Department of Social Services pursuant to the provisions of sections 4-38d, 4-38e and 4-39.

(f) The Governor may, with the approval of the Finance Advisory Committee, transfer funds between the Department on Aging and the Department of Social Services pursuant to subsection (b) of section 4-87 during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018.

(P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 11-44, S. 146; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 283.)

*Note: Public act 93-262 is entitled “An Act Concerning the Establishment of the Department of Social Services”. (See Reference Table captioned “Public Acts of 1993” in Volume 16 of the General Statutes of Connecticut, revised to January 1, 2017, which lists the sections amended, created or repealed by the act.)

History: P.A. 93-262 effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 11-44 amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) by deleting “Department on Aging” and “Commissioner on Aging” and making technical changes and amended Subsec. (d) by making provisions subject to Sec. 17a-317, effective July 1, 2013; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) to add references to Department and Commissioner on Aging, amended Subsec. (d) to delete reference to Sec. 17a-301a and add provision re order or regulation of Department on Aging, added Subsec. (e) re functions, powers, duties and personnel of Department on Aging, added Subsec. (f) re transfer of funds between Department on Aging and Department of Social Services, and made technical changes, effective October 31, 2017.