ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 57
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUPLESSIS
A RESOLUTION
To direct the office of behavioral health of the Louisiana Department of Health to collect
data to show the total cost associated with individuals with chronic untreated and
under-treated serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders moving through
various systems of crisis care and to report such data to certain legislative
committees.
WHEREAS, the office of behavioral health of the Louisiana Department of Health
(LDH) manages and delivers the services and supports necessary to improve the quality of
life for citizens with mental illness and addictive disorders; and
WHEREAS, the office of behavioral health provides statewide authority and
accountability for all behavioral healthcare, including mental health treatment services, for
Louisiana citizens; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the office of behavioral health is to work collaboratively
with partners to develop and implement a comprehensive integrated system of behavioral
health and health care, social supports, and prevention services that promote recovery and
resilience for all citizens of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the mission of LDH is to protect and promote health and to ensure
access to medical, preventive, and rehabilitative services for all citizens of the state of
Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, LDH works to provide quality services, protect and promote health,
develop and stimulate services by others, and utilize available resources in the most effective
manner in order to fulfill its mission; and
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WHEREAS, state law (R.S. 28:52) provides that any person who has a mental illness
or is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder may apply for voluntary
admission to a treatment facility and that admitting physicians are encouraged to admit
persons who have a mental illness or persons suffering from a substance-related or addictive
disorder to treatment facilities on voluntary admission status whenever medically feasible;
and
WHEREAS, there is a high prevalence of comorbidity between mental illness and
substance use disorders as stress acts as a neurological link between both diseases; and
WHEREAS, the risk factors that contribute to mental illness and substance use
disorders include genetic vulnerabilities, epigenetic influences, environmental influences,
childhood trauma, and other biological and socioeconomic components; and
WHEREAS, the office of behavioral health facilitates the provision of crisis care
through ten local governing entities, the human service districts, and authorities of this state
that are currently making efforts to treat and manage community behavioral health issues;
and
WHEREAS, understanding how individuals with mental illness and substance use
disorders flow through different systems of crisis care would help the state behavioral health
agency achieve better service coordination and sustainability in systems of care.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby direct the office of behavioral health of the Louisiana
Department of Health to collect data to show the total cost associated with individuals with
chronic untreated and under-treated serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders
moving through various systems of crisis care and to report such data to certain legislative
committees.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the office of behavioral health of the LDH shall
submit the data collected in accordance with this Resolution in the form of a report to the
House Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Health and Welfare no
later than sixty days prior to the convening of the 2022 Regular Session of the Legislature
of Louisiana.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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