The department shall administer and expend funds appropriated to it by the general assembly or available from allotments by the federal government to the state or from contributions from the counties, cities, or other local units of government, or from other sources, in carrying out the duties imposed upon it by § 71-1-105, including the special training of personnel required to carry out such duties, and including grants to public or other nonprofit institutions of higher learning for training personnel employed or preparing for employment in a public welfare program, and for such other purposes as may be specified by law or delegated to it by the governor, including the publication of reports and the dissemination of information as to the cause and treatment of social ill-being and the prevention of maladjustment and delinquency.