HB 36 became Heather’s Law and may help victims in domestic abuse situations so that law enforcement is alerted more quickly.

In present law provides that upon the issuance of a temporary restraining order or protective order in domestic abuse cases, the judge shall cause to have prepared a Uniform Abuse Prevention Order, shall sign such order, and shall immediately forward it to the clerk of court for filing on the day that the order is issued.

Present law further requires the clerk of the issuing court to transmit the Order to the judicial administrator’s office, La. Supreme Court, and to send a copy to the chief law enforcement officer of the parish where the person or persons protected by the order reside by facsimile transmission or direct electronic input as expeditiously as possible.

The new law:(1) Adds that the copy of the Uniform Abuse Prevention Order sent to the chief law enforcement officer shall be reviewed by the law enforcement agency upon receipt. (2) Requires the petitioner to be notified of the right to initiate criminal proceedings and to be informed that the granting of a temporary restraining order or protective order does not automatically file criminal charges against the defendant

Representative Henry’s bill has been signed by the Governor into Act 355 and creates the crime of harassment of a school or recreation athletic contest official, and sets penalties which can include mandatory counseling for anger management.

The new law defines the crime as the harassment of a school athletic or recreation athletic contest official that occurs under either of the following circumstances and that includes verbal or non-verbal behavior by the offender that would cause a reasonable person to be placed in fear of receiving bodily harm: (1) While the school athletic or recreation athletic contest official is actively engaged in the conducting, supervising, refereeing, or officiating of a school-sanctioned interscholastic athletic contest or a sanctioned recreation athletic contest. (2) In the immediate vicinity of a school-sanctioned interscholastic athletic contest or a sanctioned recreation athletic contest and is based on the official’s performance in the conducting, supervising, refereeing, or officiating of a school-sanctioned interscholastic athletic contest or a sanctioned recreation athletic contest.

New law provides the following penalties for persons who commit the offense: (1) A fine of not more than $500, imprisonment without hard labor for not more than 90 days, or both. (2) Performance of 40 hours of court-approved community service work. (3) Mandatory participation in a court-approved counseling program which may include anger management, abusive behavior intervention groups, or any other type of counseling deemed appropriate by the court. Cost of the program shall be borne by the offender.

The new law creates the crime of entry or remaining on site of a school or recreation athletic contest after being forbidden which provides that no person shall without authority go into or upon or remain in or upon, or attempt to go into or upon or remain in or upon, any immovable property or other site or location that belongs to another and that is used for any school athletic contest or recreation athletic contest, including any area in the immediate vicinity of the site or location of the athletic contest, after having been forbidden to do so, either orally or in writing, by any owner, lessee, or custodian of the property or by any other authorized person.

New law provides that whoever violates the provisions of new law shall be fined not more than $500, imprisoned without hard labor for not more than six months, or both.

The Governor signed House Bill 193 into law and revises last year’s effort to improve school safety. Representative Bacala’s measure revises procedures relative to students investigated for making threats of violence or terrorism.

Present law provides relative to a student reported to a law enforcement agency for a threat of violence or terrorism, and provides for a judicial hearing on whether the student should undergo a mental health evaluation. The current law requires that the student shall not be permitted to return to school until undergoing a formal mental health evaluation.

The changes passed and signed by the Governor instead instruct authorities that a student who is the subject of a complaint and investigation shall be permitted to return to school by the school administration if at any point prior to a hearing the threat is determined not to be credible by the school administration, law enforcement agency, or district attorney or by order of the court after a hearing.

While present law requires the law enforcement agency file a petition with the appropriate judicial district court for a mental health evaluation, the new law instead says that if the law enforcement agency determines that the threat is credible and imminent, it shall report it to the district attorney, who may file such a petition not later than seven days after receiving such report. It requires that a student be permitted to return to school if the district attorney decides not to file a petition or does not do so within that time period.

The new law defines that a “credible and imminent” threat means that the available facts, when viewed in light of surrounding circumstances, would cause a reasonable person to believe that the person communicating the threat actually intends to carry out the threat in the near future or has the apparent ability to carry out the threat in the near future.

Another revision passed by the Senate was to prescribe a 7day time limit on the district attorney’s authority to file a petition for the examination of a student who makes a threat and add a requirement that the student be allowed to return to school if the district attorney decides not to file a petition or does not do so within that time period.

The law now is “If a law enforcement agency, based on its investigation as required by R.S. 17:409.4(B)(1), determines that a student’s threat is credible and imminent, it shall report it to the district attorney, who may file a petition no later than seven days after receiving such report with the appropriate judicial district court for medical, psychological, and psychiatric examination as outlined in this Subsection.”

On June 24, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First.” The Order requires the posting of standard charge information for services, supplies, or fees billed by hospitals, and special rates negotiated behind the scenes. “Providing access to this data will facilitate the development of tools that empower patients to be better informed as they make decisions related to healthcare goods and services.” And, “Access to this data will also enable researchers and entrepreneurs to locate inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement, such as patterns of performance of medical procedures that are outside the recommended standards of care,” the President wrote.

“To make fully informed decisions about their healthcare, patients must know the price and quality of a good or service in advance,” the President said. “With the predominant role that third-party payers and Government programs play in the American healthcare system, however, patients often lack both access to useful price and quality information and the incentives to find low-cost, high-quality care. Opaque pricing structures may benefit powerful special interest groups, such as large hospital systems and insurance companies, but they generally leave patients and taxpayers worse off than would a more transparent system.”

In 2017, the Administration issued a report titled “Reforming America’s Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition,” and was referenced in the June Ex. Order.

The report recommends developing price and quality transparency initiatives to ensure that patients can make wellinformed decisions about their care. “In particular,” the President wrote, “the report describes the characteristics of the most effective price transparency efforts: they distinguish between the charges that providers bill and the rates negotiated between payers and providers; they give patients proper incentives to seek information about the price of healthcare services; and they provide useful price comparisons for ‘shoppable’ services (common services offered by multiple providers through the market, which patients can research and compare before making informed choices based on price and quality).” Of inpatient care, 73 percent of the 100 highest cost services are shoppable and of outpatient, 90 percent of the 300 highest costs are shoppable.

“Improving transparency in healthcare will also further protect patients from harmful practices such as surprise billing, …”

“Making meaningful price and quality information more broadly available to more Americans will protect patients and increase competition, innovation, and value in the healthcare system.”

The President notes the Policy as follows: “It is the policy of the Federal Government to ensure that patients are engaged with their healthcare decisions and have the information requisite for choosing the healthcare they want and need. The Federal Government aims to eliminate unnecessary barriers to price and quality transparency; to increase the availability of meaningful price and quality information for patients; to enhance patients’ control over their own healthcare resources, including through tax-preferred medical accounts; and to protect patients from surprise medical bills.”

The Order also lays out the rules for making charges, including negotiated rates and rates worked directly with insurance companies, available to the public: “Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall propose a regulation, consistent with applicable law, to require hospitals to publicly post standard charge information, including charges and information based on negotiated rates and for common or shoppable items and services, in an easy-to-understand, consumer-friendly, and machine-readable format using consensus-based data standards that will meaningfully inform patients’ decision making and allow patients to compare prices across hospitals.” […]

[…] “Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs shall develop a Health Quality Roadmap that aims to align and improve reporting on data and quality measures across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Health Insurance Marketplace, the Military Health System, and the Veterans Affairs Health System. The Roadmap shall include a strategy for establishing, adopting, and publishing common quality measurements; aligning inpatient and outpatient measures; and eliminating low-value or counterproductive measures.”

Comments on Medscape, a popular physician and healthcare professional website and blog, were poignant.

Commenting was a psychologist. Dana Beezley-Smith| Psychologist ––Well, I for one am tickled pink. It’s a travesty that consumers have to purchase healthcare services without understanding what their portion of the expense will be. I wrote about this topic almost two years ago. (https://nationalpsychologist.com/2017/ 09/health-care-reform-update-pricetransparency-movementgrowing/104010.html) The devil’s in the details, of course, as proposed and final rulings will take some time, but if it plays out right, the entire provider
insurer-patient relationship will be transformed. No more secrets. Hospitals won’t like this, insurers won’t like this, but perhaps private physicians can prove they offer more value per dollar than giant hospital systems do. At the very least it encourages the consumer to ask more questions.

Popular comments included:

Dr. Chris Burritt| Psychiatry/Mental Health ––The Hospitals practically operate as cartels…pushback from them should be viewed as a sign of going in the right direction. I hope Trump stays the course – this should be a bipartisan effort!!

Dr. Yehuda Mond| Internal Medicine ––Politics aside, President Trump is the only president who has the guts to face on the pharma companies, call their bluff, and end the status quo. He’s the first to explain to the American people where the problem is and how it can be solved. We’re paying through the nose with unfettered billions of our tax and insurance dollars going straight to pharmaceutical companies. While this will not solve all our problems, if he is successful (ahem, so-called democrats), then it will reduce healthcare costs across the board. Please folks, put your unjustified hatred towards our president aside and show him your support.

Dr. Kathryn Duplantis| Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Medicine –– president trump 2020! I wrote him a letter recently addressing the challenges that we doctors are facing including rising overhead, constant fighting with insurance companies to be paid and increasing liability! We are tired of all the big bosses running healthcare! I want doctors to be able to run their own practices and not deal with all the bosses that have driven up the cost of healthcare! My practice is all cash and will retire with a cash practice!

After being amended on both the House and Senate Floors, Senator Gatti’s SB 107, which adds PTSD to injuries covered by workers’ compensation for certain public employees, passed. The House vote was 99 to 0 and Senate was 34 to 0.

Amendments included: Specify that the posttraumatic stress injury shall be caused by an event occurring in the course and scope of employment and which the preponderance of evidence indicates that the event was a substantial contributing factor; Remove the determination and factors of whether the evidence presented to determine if an employee has a posttraumatic stress injury has successfully rebutted the presumptions provided for posttraumatic stress injury; and Add that a posttraumatic stress injury that arises solely from a legitimate personnel action such as a transfer, promotion, demotion, or termination, is not a compensable injury under present law.

The newest digest indicates that while present law requires the state fire marshal to obtain workers’ compensation coverage for volunteer members who participate in the normal functions of the fire company, the new law will also now require upon the purchase of a new policy or renewal of an existing policy, that any workers’ compensation policy which provides coverage for a volunteer member of a fire company, pursuant to present law, will include coverage for posttraumatic stress injury.

The new law provides that any volunteer member of a fire company who is diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist with posttraumatic stress injury, either during his period of voluntary service or thereafter, shall be presumed, prima facie, to have a disease or infirmity connected with his volunteer service.

Once diagnosed with posttraumatic stress injury the volunteer member affected or his survivors shall be entitled to all rights and benefits as granted by present law to one suffering from an occupational disease.

The new law also provides that, except as provided in proposed law, any local emergency medical services personnel, any employee of a local police department, or any local fire employee who is diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist with posttraumatic stress injury, either during employment or thereafter, shall be presumed, prima facie, to have a disease or infirmity connected with his employment.

An employee of the division of state police who is diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist with posttraumatic stress injury, either during employment or thereafter,
shall be presumed, prima facie, to have a disease or infirmity connected with his employment for purposes of workers’ compensation benefits.

Once diagnosed with posttraumatic stress injury the employee of the division of state police affected or his survivors shall be entitled to all rights and benefits as granted by state workers’ compensation law, as service connected in the line of duty, regardless of whether the employee is employed at the time of diagnosis.

The new law provides that a posttraumatic stress injury that arises solely from a legitimate personnel action such as a transfer, promotion, demotion, or termination, is not a compensable injury pursuant to present law. The law is set to become effective August 1, 2019.

SB 145 by Sen. Ronnie Johns was heard in committee, amended and passed to the Senate Floor where it was supported by favorable vote of 38 yeas and no nays. In the House it was referred to the Committee on Health & Welfare. It passed the Senate on April 29.

If it were to become law, the measure provides that, subject to appropriation by the legislature, the Dept. of Children and Family Services, working in collaboration with the Dept. of Health, and the Family in Need of Services Assistance Program, with the assistance of the La. Alliance of Children’s Advocacy Centers, to create a coalition to develop a human trafficking victim services
delivery model.

The proposed law further provides that the model is to be developed with consideration of the recommendations of and collaborating with the La. Human Trafficking Prevention Commission and Advisory Board, and provide a multidisciplinary and agency approach that coordinates resources and improves the statewide response and delivery of services to victims.

The new would designate that the human trafficking victim services delivery model is to provide a plan to address and promote the following goals including but not limited to:

(1) Safe and sufficient placements. (2) Available and adequate funding sources. (3) Stakeholder partnerships. (4) Coordinated response. (5) Appropriate and responsive services.

The Dept. of Children and Family Services is to promulgate any rules necessary to implement the provisions of proposed law, and that the Dept. of Children and Family Services is to provide a report on the development of the coalition’s services delivery model to the Senate and House
Committees on Health and Welfare by June 30, 2020, and annually thereafter until completion of the model.

HB 237, a measure put forth by Rep. Chad Brown and supported by the Governor, to prohibit
discrimination by health insurance issuers in the individual market and small and large group
market based on health status, and from imposing any preexisting condition exclusion with respect to the plan or coverage, was involuntarily deferred in Committee on Insurance. The measure also took on six amendments.

The proposed law, if it would have passed, requires a health insurance issuer to include mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment, and preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management.

“Proposed law requires a health insurance issuer offering health insurance coverage in the
individual or group market to renew or continue in force the coverage at the option of the plan sponsor or the individual, as applicable, except that the issuer may nonrenew or discontinue health insurance coverage based only on a failure to pay premiums or contributions, an act or practice that constitutes fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of material fact under the terms of the coverage, or the issuer is ceasing to offer coverage in the market.”

The new law prohibits a group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage from establishing rules for eligibility, including continued
eligibility, of any individual to enroll under the terms of the plan based on any of the following
health status-related factors in relation to the individual or a dependent of the individual:
(1) Health status.
(2) Medical condition, including both physical and mental illnesses.
(3) Claims experience.
(4) Receipt of health care.
(5) Medical history.
(6) Genetic information.
(7) Evidence of insurability, including conditions arising out of acts of domestic violence.
(8) Disability.
(9) Any other health status-related factor determined appropriate by the commissioner of insurance.

The proposed law prohibits a group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage in La. from establishing lifetime limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified a natural signaling
molecule that activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain that play a critical role in
stress-resilience. The endocannabinoid family of signaling molecules that activate CB1
and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in the brain were investigated by Sachin Patel, M.D.,
Ph.D., the director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University
Medical Center. Patel indicated that finding ways to boost the signaling system could
represent a new treatment approach for many stress-linked disorders.

The endocannabinoids are endogenous ligands in the brain that activate CB1 and CB2.
While the endocannabinoids are a biochemistry topic too complex for this cursory look,
the effects of CB1 and CB2 have broad implications for the treatment and possible
prevention of disorders like major depression and PTSD. CB1 is found mostly in the
brain and central nervous system and to a lesser extent in other tissues. CB2 is mostly
found in peripheral organs and cells that service the immune system. CBD, which is now
generally available in several forms do not directly activated CB1 or 2; however, the
effects of CBD are foreshadowing the potential for treatment of not just mood disorders
but many other stress-related or stress-affected disorders, like diabetes, obesity,
memory, anxiety and neurodegenerative disorders.

Boosting this signaling system holds great promise. In fact, THC, the active compound
in marijuana, binds the CB1 receptor, which may explain why relief of tension and
anxiety is the most common reason cited by people who use marijuana chronically.
Patel and his colleagues previously have found CB1 receptors in the amygdala, a key
emotional hub in the brain involved in regulating anxiety and the fight-or-flight response.
They also showed in animal models that anxiety increases when the CB1 receptor is
blocked by a drug or its gene is deleted.

In the current study1 the researchers tested the effects of increasing or depleting the
supply of one endocannabinoid (2-AG) in the amygdala in two populations of mice: one
previously determined to be susceptible to the adverse consequences of acute stress,
and the other which exhibited stress-resilience. Augmenting the 2-AG supply increased
the proportion of stress-resilient mice overall and promoted resilience in mice that were
previously susceptible to stress, whereas depleting 2-AG rendered previously stressresilient mice susceptible to developing anxiety-like behaviors after exposure to acute
stress.

Taken together, these results suggest that 2-AG signaling through the CB1 receptor in
the amygdala promotes resilience to the adverse effects of acute traumatic stress
exposure and supports previous findings in animal models and humans suggesting that
2-AG deficiency could contribute to development of stress-related psychiatric disorders.
Marijuana use is highly cited by patients with PTSD as a way to control symptoms.
However, marijuana use in psychiatric disorders has obvious drawbacks including
possible addiction and cognitive side effects, among others. The Vanderbilt study
suggests that increasing production of natural cannabinoids may be an alternative
strategy to harness the therapeutic potential of this signaling system. For instance, once
levels of the endocannabinoids can be efficiently measured in humans, those identified
with low levels of the signaling system responsible for stress-related mood and anxiety
disorders could have their supply replenished without the complications of using
marijuana.

Rebecca J. Bluett, Rita Báldi, Andre Haymer, Andrew D. Gaulden, Nolan D. Hartley,
Walker P. Parrish, Jordan Baechle, David J. Marcus, Ramzi Mardam-Bey, Brian C. Shonesy,
Md. Jashim Uddin, Lawrence J. Marnett, Ken Mackie, Roger J. Colbran, Danny G. Winder,
Sachin Patel. Endocannabinoid signalling modulates susceptibility to traumatic stress
exposure. Nature Communications, 2017; 8: 14782

Governor Edwards announced his Legislative Agenda last month and said that he was excited to work in a bi-partisan manner, outlining key pieces of legislation that he would support. Included were a variety of health and education reforms.

Representative Chad Brown’s HB 237 would protect nearly 850,000 Louisianans with a preexisting condition by prohibiting health plans or health insurers from discriminating against a health insurance applicant based upon preexisting conditions or health status.

SCR 3 by Senator Blade Morrish and HCR 1 by Representative Nancy Landry provides for a
$1,000 pay raise for teachers or certificated personnel, a $500 pay raise for school support
or non-certificated personnel. Eliminating pay secrecy by prohibiting employers from taking actions against employees for inquiring about, discussing or disclosing their wages or another employee’s wages is another of the Governor’s objectives in SB 136 by Senator J.P. Morrell.

HB 391 by Rep. Franklin Foil establishes “The Veterans First Business Initiative”, a statewide
initiative designed to identify veteran owned businesses in Louisiana, create a veteran owned business designation that they can use, and produce a state database for Louisianans to search for various goods or services of veteran owned businesses.

To increase prescription drug transparency, the governor will support legislation sponsored by Sen. Fred Mills, SB 41, to provide the regulatory framework necessary for the Louisiana Department of Insurance, Louisiana Board of Pharmacy, and Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to respond to consumer and provider complaints against PBMs. Pharmacy Benefit
Managers (PBMs) are third party administrators, “middlemen,” contracted by health plans, employers, and government entities to manage prescription drug programs on behalf of health plan beneficiaries. The three regulatory bodies will have specific licensure requirements that must be met to be in good standing and operation in Louisiana.

For HB 243, Rep. Dustin Miller and the Governor hope to address opioid-related harm through policy change to establish an enhanced data reporting of fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses where opioids were suspected or present. This legislation will create mechanisms for rapid surveillance of overdoses in the state, and lead to data-driven decisions for targeted prevention, ntervention, and treatment in areas of the state with the most prevalent challenges.

“I am proud of the momentum we are experiencing in the state of Louisiana,” said the Governor. “We have turned the $2 billion deficit I inherited at the start of my administration into a budget surplus….”

Two lawsuits involving Dr. Eric Cerwonka have resulted in decisions in recent months.

In 2017 Cerwonka appealed the results of a decision by the state board that revoked his license. At a preliminary hearing for a Motion to Stay, Judge Michael Caldwell of the 19th Judicial District Court vacated and made void the Board’s decision. Caldwell was reported to say, in a sidebar discussion, “I read the briefs and I read the pleadings. I just can’t send this up to the Court of Appeals, the violations of Due Process are rampant.”

However, in February Judge Caldwell reversed his 2017 decision.

This came after the Board’s attorney, Ms. Amy Lowe, appealed to the State of Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal to argue two of the due process matters: 1) the board used attorneys from the same law firm, and 2) the board’s prosecuting attorney had been previously involved with Cerwonka in a child custody case and fee dispute.

In April 2018, the Court of Appeal agreed with Lowe and the matter was then returned to district court for further proceedings.

In another lawsuit, related to the LSBEP complaint, a husband and wife brought a civil suit against Cerwonka in the 15th Judicial District in Lafayette. The plaintiffs sought damages for injuries due to alleged sexual misconduct and malpractice by Cerwonka.

That trial ended in October 2018 when the Lafayette jury concluded that there was no cause of an injury to either the wife or the husband due to Cerwonka’s actions.

However, the jury did find that “… Dr. Cerwonka was negligent, i.e., acting below the level of the ordinary employee, under similar circumstances by the members of his profession,” in his treatment of the wife. No negligent acts were attributed to Cerwonka for the husband and the jury awarded no damages to either the husband or the wife plaintiff.

On January 29, 2019, shortly before Judge Caldwell gave his February decision, the attorneys for the couple who had filed the Lafayette civil suit, submitted a Motion and Order to File Amicus Curiae Brief–a Friend of the Court, with Judge Caldwell in Baton Rouge.

In the 36-page Brief, the attorneys for the Lafayette couple, Edward Walters, Jr. and J.E. Cullens, Jr., presented arguments and opinions against Cerwonka, including excerpts from the Lafayette trial and depositions.

Currently, the LSBEP is also waiting on another legal battle over time limits, which has been on appeal but apparently dormant since 2015.

The time limits case, Dr. Cerwonka’s case, and another investigation of Dr. Alicia Pelligrin which was dismissed under the encouragement of the Board’s general council, contributed in part to skyrocketing legal fees coming out of the Board’s 2014, 2015, and 2016 complaints subcommittee.

According to public records the Board’s escalating legal fees stemmed primarily from fees from the Board Prosecutor, held at that time by Mr. James Raines. Over 2015 to 2016, and into January 2017, Mr. Raines prosecuted 16 cases. Three of these 16 cases amounted to $146,987 of fees from Mr. Raines.

The Board worked in closed meetings during 2018 to create reforms to its complaints subcommittee process. Mr. Raines no longer appears to be one of the Board’s contract attorneys.

Gov. Edwards announced the creation of a work training program for Medicaid recipients. He joined Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretary of the Louisiana Dept. of Health (LDH) and Louisiana Delta Community College Chancellor Dennis Epps to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to officially create a collaborative pilot work training initiative between LDCC in Monroe and LDH. The overall goal of the pilot is to develop a work training promotion program model that can be customized by communities across Louisiana.

“We are excited to be able to announce this pilot program that will build on the existing success of the State’s Medicaid Expansion efforts,” said Gov. Edwards. “It offers a practical and Louisiana-specific approach to connect expansion recipients to viable training opportunities that will lead to better jobs and better-earning potential. Creating a program that is helpful but not punitive is something we have consistently been working on. State lawmakers came together and spoke loud and clear on this issue. And with the recent court decisions against the faulty design of similar programs in other states, we are even more convinced that this is the correct path to take. I want to thank everyone who has made this possible and especially Rep. Katrina Jackson and Representative Frank Hoffman for their leadership and guidance in this effort.”

The pilot will include two LDCC campuses – the main campus in Monroe and the campus in the city of West Monroe. The first invitations to participate will be distributed this summer and will continue throughout the year. The pilot will be implemented in two stages, and the time participants will have to complete the program depends on which course of study they select. A total of five training programs will be offered:

Certified Nurse Assistant (CAN)/Behavioral Health Technician (239 Hours); Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO) (160 Hours); Environmental Services Technician (120 Hours); Forklift & OSHA 10 (Wagner Special) (24 hours); Mortgage Documents Specialist (18 Hours)

Officials at the American Psychological Association said they will do what they can to support students at the 10 doctoral programs at Argosy campuses across the country following the closing of that university in March.

“With the mandated closing of Argosy University, the American Psychological Association has pledged to do everything it can as an accreditor to facilitate the transition of psychology doctoral students into other APA-accredited programs at the institutions standing ready to receive them,” noted the press release by K. Mills on March 10.

Sources stated that Argosy has been struggling financially for some time. On February 27 the Washington Post reported, “Court documents attribute the missing money to the financial unraveling of Dream Center Education Holdings, a nonprofit group that acquired Argosy, South University and Art Institute campuses in 2016. The Los Angeles company struggled to turn the for-profit colleges into thriving nonprofit schools, and spent months trying to close and sell campuses to meet financial obligations. When it fell short, Dream Center in January entered into receivership, a form of bankruptcy.”

The court-appointed receiver sent a letter to the Education Department showing cash flow where Argosy used $4.2 million of financial aid funds to pay staff, $2.1 million to pay vendors, and $1.7 to fund operations, according to the Post.

Dr. Margaret Smith, now with the Chicago School at Xavier, said, “I previously taught for 10 years at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University Chicago and have been concerned since students reached out to me when the receivership occurred. It’s been a highly traumatic experience for the doctoral students enrolled in the program, as well as faculty who’ve been there prior to it ever being Argosy, when they were a free standing program.”

According to the APA press release, “The American Psychological Association has been working with programs, institutions and the Department of Education in an effort to ensure that psychology doctoral students affected by Argosy’s alleged misdeeds are able to complete their degrees,” said APA President Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD. “Our No. 1 concern is that these students and their teachers are not further penalized by the rapid demise and closing of the Argosy campuses. Some of these students were months away from graduating and entering the workforce to provide mental health care and other vital contributions to society. The top priority for the Department of Education and institutions around the country must be to ensure that the futures and the investments by these students are not jeopardized.”

Responding to calls and emails from affected students, faculty, and other concerned parties. APA established a Psychology Student Action Center (psychstudentactioncenter@a pa.org and 202-336-6014) to direct members of the Argosy community to appropriate resources and created a webpage with referral information and FAQs.