ENROLLED
ACT No. 151
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 334
BY REPRESENTATIVES DUPLESSIS, ADAMS, HUGHES, TRAVIS JOHNSON,
LARVADAIN, MCMAHEN, AND SELDERS
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 40:1203.3(A)(introductory paragraph) and to enact R.S.
3 40:1203.3(E), relative to employment of nonlicensed persons with certain healthcare
4 providers; to define and provide with respect to the role of peer support specialists
5 in behavioral health settings; to authorize the employment by licensed behavioral
6 health services providers of peer support specialists who have been convicted of
7 certain offenses; to provide conditions for the employment of such persons; to
8 provide for administrative rulemaking by the Louisiana Department of Health; and
9 to provide for related matters.
10 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
11 Section 1. R.S. 40:1203.3(A)(introductory paragraph) is hereby amended and
12 reenacted and R.S. 40:1203.3(E) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
13 ยง1203.3. Refusal to hire or contract; termination of employment; exemption
14 exceptions to hiring prohibition; appeal procedure; waiver
15 A. Except as otherwise provided in R.S. 40:1203.2(C) and Subsection E of
16 this Section, no employer shall hire any licensed ambulance personnel or nonlicensed
17 person when the results of a criminal history check reveal that the licensed
18 ambulance personnel or nonlicensed person has been convicted of any of the
19 following offenses:
20 * * *
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1 E.(1) For purposes of this Subsection, "peer support specialist" means a
2 behavioral health staff member who possesses lived experience with his own
3 behavioral health condition and with navigating the behavioral health services
4 network who seeks employment with a behavioral healthcare facility or program
5 serving people with behavioral health conditions.
6 (2) The provisions of this Subsection shall apply exclusively to peer support
7 specialists employed or contracted with a behavioral health services provider
8 licensed by the department, and shall not be construed to apply to any other person
9 or any licensed personnel.
10 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall not be
11 prohibited or disqualified from employment as a peer support specialist with a
12 licensed behavioral health services provider if the person's criminal background
13 check reveals he has been convicted of an offense provided for in R.S. 14:38.1 or
14 14:67, or convicted of distribution or possession with the intent to distribute
15 controlled dangerous substances listed in Schedules I through V of the Uniform
16 Controlled Dangerous Substances Law, R.S. 40:961 et seq., if that person meets all
17 of the following requirements:
18 (a) No less than three years prior to being hired as a peer support specialist,
19 the person satisfactorily completed his sentence or was lawfully released from
20 confinement, supervision, or probation imposed by a court for the person's most
21 recent conviction for an offense listed in this Paragraph.
22 (b) After satisfactorily completing his sentence or after being lawfully
23 released from confinement, supervision, or probation for his most recent conviction
24 for an offense listed in this Paragraph, the person successfully completed all training
25 and requirements established by the office of behavioral health of the department for
26 a peer support specialist as evidenced by a Notice of Completion of Training and
27 Requirements issued by the office of behavioral health or its designee.
28 (4) Nothing in this Subsection shall be construed as creating an obligation
29 upon an employer to offer employment to a person.
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1 (5) The department shall promulgate rules in accordance with the
2 Administrative Procedure Act relating to the training and requirements of peer
3 support specialists for purposes of implementing this Subsection.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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are additions.