Open Letter to Louisiana Legislature Regarding Children’s Services RE: Louisiana Legislative Audit, Access to Comprehensive and Appropriate Specialized Behavioral Health Services in Louisiana Friday, February 23, 2018 Dear Honorable Louisiana Senators and Representatives, The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released a performance audit on February 14, 2018, titled, Access to Comprehensive and Appropriate Specialized Behavioral Health Services in Louisiana. I believe performance…
Posts published in “Healthy Louisiana”
During recent weeks, The Des Moines Register has published articles and public comment related to a managed care practice I call “half-managed care”. “Half-managed care” happens when a managed care organization interrupts care. In our experience in Louisiana, half-managed care occurs whenever a managed care organization (MCO) refuses to continue authorizing intensive residential care before a child’s treatment is complete.…
“Emergency Shelter Care” ended in Louisiana in December of 2012. That was when our organization was required by Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals (now Louisiana’s Department of Health or “LDH”) to close our ESC program. Emergency Shelter Care was licensed by the Department of Social Services (now Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services or “DCFS”). The service was…
7/10/2015 – A year has passed since the June 2014 release of the advocacy paper, Advocacy Paper Louisiana’s Children are Being Placed Out of State. Today I would like to remind you of that paper and provide an update regarding Louisiana’s current ability to care for its own children. That we are still without a complete child welfare system in…
No one wishes to hold a hot potato. Imagine attending a crawfish boil with friends. One of you scoops a potato from the pot and tosses it to a friend. It’s hot! No one will hold it long enough to feel the heat. It gets passed around quickly. Eventually, though, one of you will have the determination to withstand the…
Tomorrow marks the 18-month anniversary of DHH’s Coordinated System of Care (CSOC) and the Louisiana Behavioral Health Partnership (LBHP). This managed care system for behavioral health is still very much a work in progress. I remain hopeful that it will become something excellent for Louisiana’s children and families. However, I fear progress is showing signs of fatigue. In recent weeks…
The policies, procedures, regulations and rules of Louisiana’s Coordinated System of Care must not become concrete too quickly. The System still requires significant tweaks. The Coordinated System of Care is the Department of Health and Hospitals’ Medicaid-funded (and consequently, Medicaid-restricted) reorganization of the former child welfare system. I believe it is still too early to shout, “Success!”, because, in important…
“Wraparound” is a word which has been used a good bit during the last two years as Louisiana prepares to unfold a Coordinated System of Care for children in out of home placements or at risk of being placed out of their homes for behavioral health care. While “wraparound” is new to Louisiana, the concept of wraparound is not new.…