KRS 43.035: Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman -- Duties -- Expenses charged to

entity under review.

(1) The Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman is hereby created as an office within

the Auditor of Public Accounts. The Auditor shall appoint an ex ecutive director of

the Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman, who shall serve as the ombudsman

and be responsible for overseeing the operations of the office.

(2) The Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman shall:

(a) Investigate, upon complaint or on its own initiative, any administrative act or

inaction of an organizational unit, employee, or contractor of the Cabinet for

Health and Family Services without regard to the finality of the administrative

act or inaction. Organizational units, employees, or contr actors of the Cabinet

for Health and Family Services shall not willfully obstruct an investigation,

restrict access to records or personnel, or retaliate against a complainant or

cabinet employee;

(b) Make recommendations that resolve citizen complaints ab out the Cabinet for

Health and Family Services and improve the cabinet's performance and may

require corrective action when policy violations are identified;

(c) Provide evaluation and information analysis of the Cabinet for Health and

Family Service's performance and compliance with state and federal law;

(d) Place an emphasis on research and best practices, program accountability,

quality service delivery, and improved performance of the Cabinet for Health

and Family Services;

(e) Provide information on h ow to contact the office in poster, brochure,

pamphlet, or other format to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,

which shall print and publicly post or otherwise make the information

available at all offices where Department for Community Based Servi ces of

the Cabinet for Health and Family Services employees or contractors work, at

any facility where a child in the custody of the cabinet resides, and to all

cabinet or contracted foster parents in a manner approved by the ombudsman;

(f) Report to the C abinet for Health and Family Services, Office of Inspector

General for review and investigation:

1. Any charge or case against an employee of the Cabinet for Health and

Family Services where it has cause to believe the employee has engaged

in dishonest, un ethical, or illegal conduct or practices related to his or

her job duties; or

2. A violation of state law or administrative regulation by any organization

or individual regulated by or contracted with the cabinet;

(g) Compile a report of all citizen complaints about programs or services of the

Cabinet for Health and Family Services and a summary of resolution of the

complaints and submit the report upon request to the Interim Joint Committee

on Health Services and the Interim Joint Committee on Families and

Children;

(h) Provide information to the Office of the Attorney General, when re quested,

related to substantiated violations of state law against an employee or

contractor of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or a foster or

adoptive parent;

(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, maintain confidentiality except

when disclosures may be advisable in the ombudsman's judgment to enable

the office to carry out its duties and to support recommendations; and

(j) Promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A

necessary to perform its duties as specified in this chapter.

(3) Any expense incurred by the Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman for

discretionary investigations, reviews, evaluations, information analysis, or other

work performed under this section at the direction of the ombudsman shall be

charged to the entity that is the subject of that work at the same rate as established

by the Auditor for audit work done pursuant to KRS 43.050. The Commonwealth

Office of the Ombudsman shall maintain records of all time and expenses for such

work.