HLS 21RS-3540 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 174
BY REPRESENTATIVE GREGORY MILLER
MENTAL HEALTH: Urges and requests a joint subcommittee to study the coordination of
care for persons receiving mental health services in community-based and
institutional settings
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request that the chairman of the House Committee on Health and Welfare and
3 the chairman of the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice
4 form a joint subcommittee to receive testimony from certain parties with relevant
5 expertise for the purpose of studying means and best practices for the coordination
6 of care for persons receiving mental health services in community-based and
7 institutional settings.
8 WHEREAS, the office of behavioral health of the Louisiana Department of Health
9(LDH) provides statewide authority and accountability for behavioral healthcare including
10mental health treatment services and substance use disorder treatment for Louisiana citizens;
11and
12 WHEREAS, state law mandates that local administration of the Louisiana behavioral
13healthcare system, including both community and residential services, be operated by
14independent human services districts and authorities; and
15 WHEREAS, the LDH office of behavioral health contracts with various private and
16public hospital acute care units to provide psychiatric, psychosocial, and medical services
17in an effort to meet individual patient needs for adults, children, and adolescents in an
18inpatient treatment environment that is less restrictive and more cost effective than long-term
19hospitalization; and
Page 1 of 5 HLS 21RS-3540 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 174
1 WHEREAS, many of these units are closely linked to community-based services and
2support networks, which allow patients to return to their homes faster with greater continuity
3of care; and
4 WHEREAS, the rise in local mental health issues, treated and untreated, and the
5impacts resulting therefrom have become a public health crisis; and
6 WHEREAS, one-third of Americans between the ages of fifteen and fifty-four will
7develop a mental illness in their lives; and
8 WHEREAS, according to data from the Treatment Advocacy Center, approximately
9fifty percent of individuals with schizophrenia and forty percent of individuals with bipolar
10disorder have symptoms of anosognosia; and
11 WHEREAS, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
12Administration, one of every five people experiences a diagnosable mental disorder in any
13given year; and
14 WHEREAS, in Louisiana, an estimated six hundred fifty thousand adults and two
15hundred forty-five thousand children experience mental health disabilities and incapabilities
16throughout the course of their lifetimes; and
17 WHEREAS, identification of gaps in the provision of mental health treatment at the
18local level is vital to the overall improvement of mental health within the community; and
19 WHEREAS, conducting a study to identify such gaps can provide the legislature with
20the requisite information to better address the state of mental health in Louisiana.
21 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
22Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request that the chairman of the House
23Committee on Health and Welfare and the chairman of the House Committee on the
24Administration of Criminal Justice form a joint subcommittee comprised of members of the
25two committees to solicit input, advice, and recommendations from representatives of
26mental healthcare and criminal justice organizations to study the level of care for persons
27receiving mental health services in community-based and institutional settings.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint subcommittee provided for in this
29Resolution shall report to the legislature its findings and any recommendations to resolve the
30issues discovered no later than February 1, 2022.
Page 2 of 5 HLS 21RS-3540 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 174
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint subcommittee established herein shall
2solicit input, advice, and recommendations from representatives of the following
3organizations and professions impacted by the epidemic of untreated serious mental illness
4as required by this Resolution:
5 (1) The Louisiana Department of Health.
6 (2) The office of behavioral health within the Louisiana Department of Health.
7 (3) The Central Louisiana Human Services District.
8 (4) The Capital Area Human Services District.
9 (5) The Acadiana Area Human Services District.
10 (6) The Florida Parishes Human Services Authority.
11 (7) The Imperial Calcasieu Human Services Authority.
12 (8) The Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority.
13 (9) The Metropolitan Human Services District.
14 (10) The Northeast Delta Human Services Authority.
15 (11) The Northwest Louisiana Human Services District.
16 (12) The South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority.
17 (13) The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of
18Criminal Justice.
19 (14) The Louisiana Law Enforcement Association.
20 (15) The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police.
21 (16) Healing Minds NOLA.
22 (17) Judges from the Louisiana District Judges Association.
23 (18) Attorneys from the Louisiana State Bar Association.
24 (19) Forensic physicians.
25 (20) Psychiatrists from the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association.
26 (21) Clinical psychologists from the Louisiana Psychological Association.
27 (22) Nurse practitioners from the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners.
28 (23) Family advocates.
29 (24) Mental healthcare professionals.
30 (25) Emergency medical services from the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance.
Page 3 of 5 HLS 21RS-3540 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 174
1 (26) Managed care organizations from the Louisiana Managed Medicaid
2Association.
3 (27) Assertive and forensic assertive community treatment teams.
4 (28) Local public defenders.
5 (29) Local district attorneys.
6 (29) Housing advocates.
7 (30) Outreach workers.
8 (31) Criminal justice reform advocates.
9 (32) Social workers from the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of
10Social Workers.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
12secretary of Louisiana Department of Health, the assistant secretary of the office of
13behavioral health with the Louisiana Department of Health, the director of the Central
14Louisiana Human Services District, the director of the Capital Area Human Services District,
15the director of the Acadiana Area Human Services District, the director of the Florida
16Parishes Human Services Authority, the director of the Imperial Calcasieu Human Services
17Authority, the director of the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority, the director of the
18Metropolitan Human Services District, the director of the Northeast Delta Human Services
19Authority, the director of the Northwest Louisiana Human Services District, the director of
20the South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority, the executive director of the
21Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice, the
22president of the Louisiana Law Enforcement Association, the executive director of the
23Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police, the president of the Louisiana District Judges
24Association, the president of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the president of the
25Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association, the president of the Louisiana Psychological
26Association, the president of the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners, the chief
27executive officer of the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance, the director of the Louisiana
28Managed Medicaid Association, the executive director of the Louisiana Chapter of the
29National Association of Social Workers, and the founder of Healing Minds NOLA.
Page 4 of 5 HLS 21RS-3540 ORIGINAL
HR NO. 174
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 174 Original 2021 Regular Session Gregory Miller
Requests that the chairman of the House Committee on Health and Welfare and the chairman
of the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice form a joint
subcommittee comprised of members of the two committees to solicit input, advice, and
recommendations from representatives from the Louisiana Department of Health office of
behavioral health and other state agencies to conduct a study on mental health issues and
service provisions in Louisiana.
Page 5 of 5