2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 110
BY SENATOR BOUDREAUX
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to implement a digital platform to
facilitate access to behavioral health services for adults with serious mental illness
and children with serious emotional disturbance.
WHEREAS, serious mental illness (SMI) commonly refers to a diagnosis of
psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, and either major depression with psychotic symptoms
or treatment-resistant depression; and
WHEREAS, SMI can also include anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and
personality disorders, if the degree of functional impairment is severe; and
WHEREAS, SMIs are long-term illnesses involving substantial functional
impairment that often lead to an inability to maintain gainful employment, poor social
support, repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, homelessness, incarceration, and coexisting
substance use disorders; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, over fifteen out of one hundred thousand Louisiana residents
died by suicide; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, over forty-one out of one hundred thousand Louisiana residents
died from drug overdoses; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, almost eighteen percent of adults in Louisiana reported their
mental health was not good fourteen or more days in the past thirty days; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, almost twenty-percent of adults, ages eighteen through
forty-four, in Louisiana reported frequent mental-health distress; and
WHEREAS, since the COVID pandemic began, over thirty-two percent of adults in
Louisiana reported having symptoms of serious depression or anxiety; and
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WHEREAS, children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) are persons, under
the age of 18, who have had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of
sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the most current Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), that resulted in functional impairment
which substantially interferes with or limits the child's role or functioning in family, school,
or community activities; and
WHEREAS, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) has identified a digital platform to facilitate access to behavioral health services
for adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance as an
approved expenditure through SAMHSA block grants to support efforts to connect
individuals with services in their area; and
WHEREAS, a digital platform could provide access to services in a wide variety of
settings, including mental-health services, suicide prevention, and veterans' affairs that
would greatly benefit the residents of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, a Louisiana-specific digital platform which makes it easier for
individuals to find local behavioral health services would be a valuable resource to Louisiana
residents; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana continues to face unprecedented challenges with substance
abuse, violent crime, and suicide, making the need to connect residents with resources even
more vital than ever.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to implement a digital
platform to facilitate access to behavioral health services for adults with serious mental
illness and children with serious emotional disturbance.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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