2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 21
BY SENATOR BROOME
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request 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, 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 mental health care.
WHEREAS, the closure of the mental health emergency room extension (MHERE)
in the Capital Region has had an extensive impact on numerous public and private services
in the region; and
WHEREAS, the MHERE was a specialized unit that was a national model for
stabilizing individuals in a mental health crisis; and
WHEREAS, inherent in the design of the MHERE was the goal of stabilizing the
crisis and linking the individual to ongoing care in the community; and
WHEREAS, the MHERE was developed in collaboration with several
knowledgeable community groups; and
WHEREAS, the MHERE unit consisted of an average ten beds to stabilize
individuals in behavioral health crises (mental health, addictive disorders, and
developmental disabilities); and
WHEREAS, once an individual was medically cleared in the main emergency
department, specialized staff screened, assessed, stabilized, and initiated treatment in the
MHERE; and
WHEREAS, the MHERE provided clinicians time for diagnostic clarity, observation,
developing alternatives to inpatient admission, medication management, and time to develop
a discharge plan for ongoing treatment in the community; and
WHEREAS, the MHERE unit outperformed expectations and served three thousand
four hundred individuals; and
Page 1 of 2 SCR NO. 21 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, the closure of the MHERE unit last year had immediate repercussions
on Capital Region hospitals and negatively impacted local and state budgets; and
WHEREAS, hospital emergency departments, law enforcement, the judiciary, and
others are attempting to keep up with an increased demand now placed on them; and
WHEREAS, fifty percent of the individuals utilizing the MHERE had Medicaid or
private insurance, and the other fifty percent were indigent; and
WHEREAS, the Capital Area Human Services District believes a replacement for
the MHERE is necessary and seeks to create a crisis stabilization unit to replace the
MHERE; and
WHEREAS, the crisis stabilization unit will coordinate services, transfer and
discharge planning to ensure an individual's compliance with continued care, and assign a
contract monitor to ensure services are provided within established licensure guidelines and
appropriate billing standards; and
WHEREAS, the Capital Area Human Services District will monitor the services for
compliance and will provide a crisis stabilization team to coordinate discharge or transfer
to the appropriate level of care and referrals to community resources.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Capital Area Human Services District and the Capital Region Legislative Delegation.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Page 2 of 2