The Department of Human Resources is hereby vested with the jurisdiction and responsibility of establishing and maintaining personnel standards on a merit basis and administering merit systems for local government agencies where such merit systems of employment are required by statute or regulation as a condition of a state-funded program or a federal grant-in-aid program established under federal laws, including, but not limited to: the Social Security Act, as amended; the Public Health Service Act; and the Federal Civil Defense Act, as amended.