Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:70 – A. The court shall not order involuntary outpatient treatment unless an examining physician, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, or psychologist develops and provides to th
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:70
- Addictive disorder: is a primary, chronic neurobiologic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Court: means any duly constituted district court or court having family or juvenile jurisdiction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Local governing entity: means an integrated human services delivery system with local accountability and management and which provides behavioral health and developmental disabilities services through local human services districts and authorities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Petition: means a written civil complaint filed by a person of legal age alleging that a person has a mental illness or is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and requires judicial commitment to a treatment facility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Physician: means an individual licensed to practice medicine by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners in active practice or an individual in a post-graduate medical training program of an accredited medical school in Louisiana or a medical officer similarly qualified by the government of the United States while in the state in the performance of his official duties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner: means an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice as a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, in accordance with the provisions of La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Psychologist: means an individual licensed to practice psychology in Louisiana in accordance with La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Respondent: means a person alleged to have a mental illness or be suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and for whom an application for commitment to a treatment facility has been filed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Treatment: means an active effort to accomplish an improvement in the mental condition or behavior of a patient or to prevent deterioration in his condition or behavior. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
A. The court shall not order involuntary outpatient treatment unless an examining physician, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, or psychologist develops and provides to the court a proposed written treatment plan. The respondent, and any other individual whom the respondent may designate, shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to participate in the development of the written treatment plan. The treatment plan shall reflect the expressed preferences of the respondent to the extent the preferences are reasonable and consistent with the respondent’s best interests. The written treatment plan shall be deemed appropriate by the director. The written treatment plan shall include appropriate services to provide care coordination. The written treatment plan shall also include appropriate categories of services, as set forth in Subsection D of this Section, which the respondent is recommended to receive and are available to the respondent. The written treatment plan shall specify a provider that has agreed to provide each of the specified services. If the written treatment plan includes medication, it shall state whether the medication should be self-administered or administered by authorized personnel and shall specify the type and dosage range of medication most likely to provide maximum benefit for the respondent.
B. If the written treatment plan includes substance-related or addictive disorder counseling and treatment, it may include a provision requiring testing for either alcohol or illegal substances provided the clinical basis for recommending such plan provides sufficient facts for the court to find all of the following:
(1) The respondent has a history of a substance-related or addictive disorder that is clinically related to the mental illness.
(2) Testing is necessary to prevent a relapse or deterioration.
C. The plan shall be provided to the court and all persons required to receive notice within La. Rev. Stat. 28:69(A) at least three days before the date of the hearing on the petition.
D.(1) Services shall include but are not limited to case management, provided by the local governing entity which is defined as the assignment of the coordination of care for an outpatient individual with a serious mental illness to a single person or team, including all necessary medical and mental health care and associated supportive services.
(2) Services may include but are not limited to the following categories and will depend upon the availability in the respondent’s area:
(a) Assertive community treatment.
(b) Medication.
(c) Laboratory testing to include periodic blood testing for therapeutic metabolic effects, toxicology testing, and breath analysis.
(d) Individual or group therapy.
(e) Day or partial day programming activities.
(f) Education and vocational rehabilitation training.
(g) Substance-related or addictive disorder treatment.
(h) Supervised living.
(i) Transportation.
(j) Housing assistance.
E. It shall be certified to the court that the services ordered in the plan are available and can be reasonably accessed by the respondent.
F.(1) The written treatment plan is subject to reviews before the court with the respondent and at least one representative of the treatment team. The initial frequency shall be stipulated in the treatment plan and modified with the court’s approval.
(2) The court-ordered blood or laboratory testing may be subject to review after six months by the physician, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, or psychologist who developed the written treatment plan or who is designated by the director, and the blood or laboratory testing may be terminated without further action of the court.
Acts 2008, No. 407, §2; Acts 2009, No. 384, §5, eff. July 1, 2010; Acts 2017, No. 369, §2; Acts 2018, No. 206, §1; Acts 2018, No. 375, §1; Acts 2021, No. 329, §1; Acts 2022, No. 271, §1.