SLS 15RS-380 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 21
BY SENATOR BROOME
HEALTH CARE. Requests the Capital Area Human Services District develop a crisis
stabilization unit for the Capital Region.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To urge and request the Capital Area Human Services District to develop and operate a
3 crisis stabilization unit to serve the Capital Region and to urge community leaders,
4 local governments of the Capital Region, the state, and healthcare providers to
5 collaborate, identify, and develop a blended approach to finance services provided
6 by the crisis stabilization unit to individuals without a payor source or a means to pay
7 for their mental health care.
8 WHEREAS, the closure of the mental health emergency room extension (MHERE)
9 in the Capital Region has had an extensive impact on numerous public and private services
10 in the region; and
11 WHEREAS, the MHERE was a specialized unit that was a national model for
12 stabilizing individuals in a mental health crisis; and
13 WHEREAS, inherent in the design of the MHERE was the goal of stabilizing the
14 crisis and linking the individual to ongoing care in the community; and
15 WHEREAS, the MHERE was developed in collaboration with several
16 knowledgeable community groups; and
17 WHEREAS, the MHERE unit consisted of an average ten beds to stabilize
18 individuals in behavioral health crises (mental health, addictive disorders, and
Page 1 of 3 SCR NO. 21
SLS 15RS-380 ORIGINAL
1 developmental disabilities); and
2 WHEREAS, once an individual was medically cleared in the main emergency
3 department, specialized staff screened, assessed, stabilized, and initiated treatment in the
4 MHERE; and
5 WHEREAS, the MHERE provided clinicians time for diagnostic clarity, observation,
6 developing alternatives to inpatient admission, medication management, and time to develop
7 a discharge plan for ongoing treatment in the community; and
8 WHEREAS, the MHERE unit outperformed expectations and served three thousand
9 four hundred individuals; and
10 WHEREAS, the closure of the MHERE unit last year had immediate repercussions
11 on Capital Region hospitals and negatively impacted local and state budgets; and
12 WHEREAS, hospital emergency departments, law enforcement, the judiciary, and
13 others are attempting to keep up with an increased demand now placed on them; and
14 WHEREAS, fifty percent of the individuals utilizing the MHERE had Medicaid or
15 private insurance, and the other fifty percent were indigent; and
16 WHEREAS, the Capital Area Human Services District believes a replacement for
17 the MHERE is necessary and seeks to create a crisis stabilization unit to replace the
18 MHERE; and
19 WHEREAS, the crisis stabilization unit will coordinate services, transfer and
20 discharge planning to ensure an individual's compliance with continued care, and assign a
21 contract monitor to ensure services are provided within established licensure guidelines and
22 appropriate billing standards; and
23 WHEREAS, the Capital Area Human Services District will monitor the services for
24 compliance and will provide a crisis stabilization team to coordinate discharge or transfer
25 to the appropriate level of care and referrals to community resources.
26 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
27 urge and request the Capital Area Human Services District to develop and operate a crisis
28 stabilization unit to serve the Capital Region and to urge community leaders, local
29 governments of the Capital Region, the state, and healthcare providers to collaborate to
30 identify and develop a blended approach to finance services provided by the crisis
Page 2 of 3 SCR NO. 21
SLS 15RS-380 ORIGINAL
1 stabilization unit to individuals without a payor source or a means to pay for their care.
2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
3 Capital Area Human Services District and the Capital Region Legislative Delegation.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Christopher D. Adams.
DIGEST
SCR 21 Original 2015 Regular Session Broome
Requests the Capital Area Human Services District to develop and operate a crisis
stabilization unit to serve the Capital Region and to urge community leaders, local
governments of the Capital Region, the state, and healthcare providers to collaborate to
identify and develop a blended approach to finance services provided by the crisis
stabilization unit to individuals without a payor source or a means to pay for their care.
Page 3 of 3