ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 174
BY REPRESENTATIVE GREGORY MILLER
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request 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 to receive testimony from certain parties with relevant
expertise for the purpose of studying means and best practices for the coordination
of care for persons receiving mental health services in community-based and
institutional settings.
WHEREAS, the office of behavioral health of the Louisiana Department of Health
(LDH) provides statewide authority and accountability for behavioral healthcare including
mental health treatment services and substance use disorder treatment for Louisiana citizens;
and
WHEREAS, state law mandates that local administration of the Louisiana behavioral
healthcare system, including both community and residential services, be operated by
independent human services districts and authorities; and
WHEREAS, the LDH office of behavioral health contracts with various private and
public hospital acute care units to provide psychiatric, psychosocial, and medical services
in an effort to meet individual patient needs for adults, children, and adolescents in an
inpatient treatment environment that is less restrictive and more cost effective than long-term
hospitalization; and
WHEREAS, many of these units are closely linked to community-based services and
support networks, which allow patients to return to their homes faster with greater continuity
of care; and
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WHEREAS, the rise in local mental health issues, treated and untreated, and the
impacts resulting therefrom have become a public health crisis; and
WHEREAS, one-third of Americans between the ages of fifteen and fifty-four will
develop a mental illness in their lives; and
WHEREAS, according to data from the Treatment Advocacy Center, approximately
fifty percent of individuals with schizophrenia and forty percent of individuals with bipolar
disorder have symptoms of anosognosia; and
WHEREAS, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, one of every five people experiences a diagnosable mental disorder in any
given year; and
WHEREAS, in Louisiana, an estimated six hundred fifty thousand adults and two
hundred forty-five thousand children experience mental health disabilities and incapabilities
throughout the course of their lifetimes; and
WHEREAS, identification of gaps in the provision of mental health treatment at the
local level is vital to the overall improvement of mental health within the community; and
WHEREAS, conducting a study to identify such gaps can provide the legislature with
the requisite information to better address the state of mental health in Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request 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 of
mental healthcare and criminal justice organizations to study the level of care for persons
receiving mental health services in community-based and institutional settings.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint subcommittee provided for in this
Resolution shall report to the legislature its findings and any recommendations to resolve the
issues discovered no later than February 1, 2022.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint subcommittee established herein shall
solicit input, advice, and recommendations from representatives of the following
organizations and professions impacted by the epidemic of untreated serious mental illness
as required by this Resolution:
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(1) The Louisiana Department of Health.
(2) The office of behavioral health within the Louisiana Department of Health.
(3) The Central Louisiana Human Services District.
(4) The Capital Area Human Services District.
(5) The Acadiana Area Human Services District.
(6) The Florida Parishes Human Services Authority.
(7) The Imperial Calcasieu Human Services Authority.
(8) The Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority.
(9) The Metropolitan Human Services District.
(10) The Northeast Delta Human Services Authority.
(11) The Northwest Louisiana Human Services District.
(12) The South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority.
(13) The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of
Criminal Justice.
(14) The Louisiana Law Enforcement Association.
(15) The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police.
(16) Healing Minds NOLA.
(17) Judges from the Louisiana District Judges Association.
(18) Attorneys from the Louisiana State Bar Association.
(19) Forensic physicians.
(20) Psychiatrists from the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association.
(21) Clinical psychologists from the Louisiana Psychological Association.
(22) Nurse practitioners from the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners.
(23) Family advocates.
(24) Mental healthcare professionals.
(25) Emergency medical services from the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance.
(26) Managed care organizations from the Louisiana Managed Medicaid
Association.
(27) Assertive and forensic assertive community treatment teams.
(28) Local public defenders.
(29) Local district attorneys.
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(30) Housing advocates.
(31) Outreach workers.
(32) Criminal justice reform advocates.
(33) Social workers from the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of
Social Workers.
(34) The Department of Children and Family Services.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of Louisiana Department of Health, the secretary of the Department of Children
and Family Services, the assistant secretary of the office of behavioral health with the
Louisiana Department of Health, the director of the Central Louisiana Human Services
District, the director of the Capital Area Human Services District, the director of the
Acadiana Area Human Services District, the director of the Florida Parishes Human Services
Authority, the director of the Imperial Calcasieu Human Services Authority, the director of
the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority, the director of the Metropolitan Human
Services District, the director of the Northeast Delta Human Services Authority, the director
of the Northwest Louisiana Human Services District, the director of the South Central
Louisiana Human Services Authority, the executive director of the Louisiana Commission
on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice, the president of the Louisiana
Law Enforcement Association, the executive director of the Louisiana Association of Chiefs
of Police, the president of the Louisiana District Judges Association, the president of the
Louisiana State Bar Association, the president of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical
Association, the president of the Louisiana Psychological Association, the president of the
Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners, the chief executive officer of the Louisiana
Ambulance Alliance, the director of the Louisiana Managed Medicaid Association, the
executive director of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers,
and the founder of Healing Minds NOLA.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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