ENROLLED
ACT No. 665
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 961 (Substitute for House Bill No. 338 by Representative Muscarello)
BY REPRESENTATIVES MUSCARELLO, ADAMS, BACALA, BAYHAM, BERAULT,
BUTLER, CARPENTER, WILFORD CARTER, CHASSION, COX, DOMANGUE,
EGAN, FONTENOT, FREIBERG, GREEN, HORTON, JORDAN, KNOX,
LAFLEUR, LARVADAIN, LYONS, MARCELLE, MOORE, MYERS, NEWELL,
SCHLEGEL, TAYLOR, VILLIO, WALTERS, WILDER, WILEY, AND WYBLE
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 15:830.3, relative to the creation of a mental health transition pilot program;
3 to provide for a pilot program; to provide for administration of the pilot program in
4 certain parishes; to provide for eligibility; to provide for the duties of the Department
5 of Public Safety and Corrections; to provide for criteria; and to provide for related
6 matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 15:830.3 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
9 ยง830.3. Mental health transition pilot program
10 A.(1) The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall establish a
11 mental health transition pilot program to be administered within the parishes of
12 Livingston, St. Helena, and Tangipahoa to provide eligible individuals with
13 transition services in the community while on probation or parole.
14 (2) In order to determine eligibility for the program, the department shall
15 conduct basic level screening of individuals placed on probation or parole for mental
16 health disorders as defined in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical
17 Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.
18 B. Each eligible individual who participates in the program shall be required,
19 as a condition of probation or parole, to immediately do all of the following upon
20 being placed on probation or released on parole:
21 (1) Schedule and attend all appointments at the Florida Parishes Human
22 Services Authority or any local governmental entity, district, or authority, for any
23 and all mental health or substance use disorder treatments, if indicated.
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1 (2) Complete a Medicaid application.
2 C. The department shall participate in a demonstration waiver pursuant to
3 42 U.S.C. 1315 when established by the Louisiana Department of Health and
4 approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
5 D. The department shall do all of the following:
6 (1) Conduct an annual study to determine the recidivism rates of individuals
7 who receive mental health transition services from a contracted entity pursuant to
8 this Section. The study shall include the recidivism rates of individuals who have
9 been placed on probation or released from incarceration for a minimum of one year
10 after placement on probation or release.
11 (2) On or before December thirty-first of each year, submit a written report
12 to the governor, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of
13 Representatives, and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, and provide a
14 copy of this report to the secretary of state. The report may be submitted
15 electronically and shall contain the one-year rate of return of individuals to the
16 custody of the department based on those who received services in the program
17 compared to those who were placed on probation or released with a diagnosis of a
18 serious mental health disorder who did not receive services in the program during the
19 same period.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.