RS 2162.2 - Findings and purpose
A. The legislature hereby finds and declares the following:
(1) It is the policy of this state to ensure delivery of sufficient support services in order to successfully transition adult patients with a primary diagnosis of mental illness from inpatient psychiatric facilities to the most appropriate outpatient setting.
(2) Repeated admissions of persons to inpatient psychiatric units is a significant problem which often results in inadequate care and a failure to stabilize the patient, especially if the patient is homeless or has unstable living arrangements.
(3) Community-based residential programs are a more cost-effective form of treatment and a more appropriate treatment option for persons with mental illness than emergency room visits, unnecessary long-term stays in psychiatric hospitals, and incarceration.
(4) Licensing of community-based residential programs to operate in state-owned residential buildings presents an opportunity for adaptive and innovative use of those buildings and for optimization of state resources.
(5) Persons with a mental illness who are treated in a psychiatric facility and released without a stable transitional plan of care are at high risk for hospitalization, incarceration, and psychiatric readmission.
(6) It is a fiscal and public health priority of this state to establish a licensing component for adult community-based residential facilities which has historically been missing in the continuum of services for adults with a primary diagnosis of mental illness.
B. The purpose of this Part is to authorize the Louisiana Department of Health to promulgate and adopt rules, regulations, and standards to license and regulate facilities to be operated as community-based care facilities in order to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of persons with mental illness.
Acts 2017, No. 417, §1.