Louisiana Children and the Role of LDH

News about the health of Louisiana Children and the role of “LDH, the Louisiana Department of Health, in their lives and well-being.

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) is Louisiana’s largest state agency, meaning there are many points of contact between Louisiana Children and LDH. Regarding LDH’s services to children, it may be helpful to think of LDH as a collection of cooperating companies, which include Medicaid, the Office of Behavioral Health (OBH), and the Office of Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD).

News about the Health of Louisiana Children and the Role of LDH

Date	News Report
1/6/2026	No Herd Immunity for Louisiana Kindergartners Against Measles with Drop in Vaccination Numbers, by Jeff Ferrell and Rosemary Westwood, Red River Radio … according to a report released by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in November 2025 entitled, “Status of Child Immunization in Louisiana,” the percentage of vaccinated kindergartners dropped “from 96% for the 2020-21 school year to only 91.65% for the 2024-25 school year,” a period of just four years, as the Louisiana Illuminator reports. Read the report: Status of Childhood Immunization in Louisiana
12/01/2023	Louisiana to adopt statewide trauma-informed care mode; Caddo Juvenile Services used as model for case-study – by Marlo Lacen, KTALnews.com The Louisiana Department of Health announced that it will adopt a statewide approach to preventing and addressing trauma across all child-serving agencies. Whole Health Louisiana is the state’s first attempt at addressing childhood adversity and trauma through the integration of trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches in the state’s systems that serve children, families, and communities.
11/02/2023	Medicaid expansion hasn’t solved Louisiana infant mortality – by Andrea Gallo \| Health care/Hospitals \| NOLA.com Theoretically, a low-income woman could use Medicaid for primary care to stave off conditions that later make pregnancy high-risk, like uncontrolled diabetes or high blood pressure. But “coverage is not care,” said Susan East Nelson, the executive director of the Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families. Gee (an obstetrician and the former Louisiana Department of Health secretary) said some clinics and hospitals have a “Third World mentality,” designating specific days for Medicaid patients so their privately insured patients do not have to interact with them.
11/09/2019	Mentally ill children in Louisiana do not receive adequate services through Medicaid, lawsuit says – by Emily Woodruff, NOLA.com Louisiana isn’t providing children on Medicaid with adequate mental health services, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of five children representing 47,500 children in the state who need services. See: Case 3:19-cv-00770-BAJ-RLB.