Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 4.
The Louisiana Department of Health, in compliance with its agreement with the Department of Justice, recently introduced the Louisiana Crisis Response System. The current system consists of three parts: Mobile Crisis Response, Community Brief Crisis Support, and Behavioral Health Crisis. These are the first three of four Medicaid services being introduced for crisis intervention. The fourth service, Crisis Stabilization, will roll out at a later date, pending legislative funding. Medicaid clients 21 years of age and older experiencing mental health issues and/or emotional distress will have access to these services. “Experiencing a mental health crisis can be frightening and confusing, especially when the individual feels that they have no control over their own treatment. We know that safety and trust are critical to successfully navigating such a crisis. With the introduction of the Louisiana Crisis Response System, Louisianans enrolled in Medicaid will have access to a continuum of rapid, coordinated services delivered in a way that best allows them to remain in their communities,” said LDH Secretary Dr. Courtney N. Phillips. “Louisiana has the opportunity to fully develop its crisis response network. When we started this initiative, no communities had access to the full continuum of services envisioned by LDH,” said Assistant Secretary Karen Stubbs, Office of Behavioral Health. “However, some providers and communities demonstrated readiness to expand crisis response services through existing niche programming with robust collaboration and buy-in from crucial partners such as law enforcement, hospital systems and local resource centers.” According to the announcement, through the implementation of the Louisiana Crisis Response System, individuals ages 21 and older who are served by one of the five Medicaid Healthy Louisiana plans and experiencing emotional distress will have access to a continuum of voluntary crisis services that are built on principles of recovery and which aim to divert from unnecessary hospitalizations and institutional levels of care. For more information about the program and its services, contact the Louisiana Crisis Response System at https://ldh.la.gov/crisis.
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