Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals | Bruce Greenstein, Secretary

Coordinated System of Care - Behavioral Health Services - Public Notice

The State of Louisiana (State) is undertaking the development of a Coordinated System of Care (CSoC) for Louisiana's at-risk children and youth with significant behavioral health challenges or co-occurring disorders in or at imminent risk of institutionalization.  Louisiana leaders acknowledge that the needs of these children and their families are currently being served through a fragmented service delivery model that is not well coordinated, is many times inadequate to meet their needs and is often difficult to navigate.  Further, the current system does not allow for state departments to take a coordinated approach to deliver the necessary behavioral health services. This too often results in Louisiana's children with the highest level of needs often detained in institutional settings.

The CSoC project is an initiative of Governor Bobby Jindal and is being led by executives of the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), the Department of Education, the Office of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH).  Implementation workgroups, led by agency staff and inclusive of parents and other stakeholders (advocates, providers and community leaders), were formed to conduct the detailed implementation planning and CSoC start-up activities.  As a result of these efforts, a comprehensive system for behavioral health services for individuals of all ages, including a CSoC for at-risk children and youth was designed.  The comprehensive behavioral health system of care is designed to provide an array of Medicaid State Plan and Home and Community-Based Waiver services to:  

• All eligible children and youth in need of mental health and substance abuse care
• At-risk children and youth with significant BH challenges or CODs in, or at imminent risk of, institutionalization 
• Adults with SPMI or CODs of mental illness and substance use 
• Adults in need of substance abuse care

Goals of the system reform include to: 

• Foster individual, youth and family-driven behavioral health services
• Increase access to a fuller array of evidence-based home and community-based services that promote hope, recovery and resilience
• Improve quality by establishing and measuring outcomes
• Manage costs through effective utilization of State, federal and local resources
• Foster reliance on natural supports that sustain individuals and families in homes and communities

On March 10, 2011, State Plan amendments and home and community-based services waiver applications for the implementation of CSoC were submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for review and approval.  Interested persons may submit comments by submitting an inquiry form. All feedback and comments are welcomed and will be reviewed and considered.

CSOC Documents

Waivers

• Quality Strategy for Louisiana Behavioral Healthcare Prepaid Inpatient Healthcare Plan Waiver
• 1915b Waiver Application
• Louisiana 1915b Waiver Appendix
• Louisiana HCBS Waiver Application (pdf)

Webinars

• CSOC Webinars

Services

• School Based Services
• Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities
• Adult Behavioral Health Services

Compliance

• State Plan Compliance
• EPSDT

SMO RFP

• SMO RFP

Presentations

• Residential Facilities Transition Presentation