(1) The division is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with the Board of Trustees of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind for the purpose of enabling said agencies to utilize jointly their services and facilities to enlarge and improve the opportunities for the deaf and blind individuals to achieve self-support or self-care.
(2)(a) For such an agreement to be valid, it must be entered into mutually by such agencies and must be approved by the administrative officers or by the boards governing same. The agreement may provide for those services which each agency or institution is authorized by law to furnish; provided that such agreement may establish a vocational rehabilitation facility for the deaf at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind which facility may accept as clients any deaf adult otherwise qualified for admission. Either agency may withdraw and terminate its part of such agreement at the end of any fiscal year by giving the other agency involved 30 days’ notice.
(b) The Board of Trustees of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is authorized to use funds now in its budget for matching those of the division, in furtherance of such agreement. Said school may employ such additional personnel as may be necessary to implement such agreement.
(3) In order to effectuate the provisions of this section, the Executive Office of the Governor shall, upon the conclusion of any such agreement, pool portions of the funds of said agencies as indicated in such agreement. Funds pooled or transferred under this section may be made available for expenditures for rehabilitation by the agency designated in the agreement to disburse such funds and may be used to compensate additional personnel employed under paragraph (2)(b). Funds expended pursuant to any agreement authorized under this section may be utilized to match funds available under the terms of federal laws pertaining to the rehabilitation of the deaf.
(4) A copy of any such agreement, when and if concluded pursuant hereto, shall be filed with the Department of State within a period of 30 days following the consummation of such agreement.
