2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 28 — Mental health
RS 28:70 — Written treatment plan

§70. Written treatment plan

A. The court shall not order involuntary outpatient treatment unless an examining physician, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner or psychologist appointed by the appropriate director of the human service district or regional manager of the Department of Health and Hospitals, office of behavioral health, develops and provides to the court a proposed written treatment plan. The written treatment plan shall be developed by a treatment team which shall include a case manager, clinical social worker and licensed physician, psychiatrist, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner or psychologist and other specialized service providers as deemed appropriate by the director or regional manager as well as the patient and upon his request, an individual significant to him and concerned with his welfare. The written treatment plan shall include appropriate services to provide care coordination. Such services shall include case management services or assertive community treatment teams. The written treatment plan shall also include appropriate categories of services, as set forth in Subsection E of this Section, which such team recommends the patient should receive. 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 type and dosage range of medication most likely to provide maximum benefit for the patient.

B. If the written treatment plan includes alcohol or substance abuse 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 patient has a history of alcohol or substance abuse 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 no later than the date of the hearing on the petition.

D. The court shall not order involuntary outpatient treatment unless a physician, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner or psychologist testifies regarding the categories of involuntary outpatient treatment recommended, the rationale for each category, facts which establish that such treatment is the least restrictive alternative, and, if recommended, the beneficial and detrimental physical and mental effects of medication, and whether such medication should be self-administered or administered by an authorized professional.

E.(1) Services shall include but are not limited to the following:

(a) Assertive community treatment.

(b) Case management which is defined as the assignment of the administration 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:

(a) Medication.

(b) Laboratory testing to include periodic blood testing for therapeutic metabolic effects, toxicology testing and breath analysis.

(c) Individual or group therapy.

(d) Day or partial day programming activities.

(e) Education and vocational rehabilitation training.

(f) Alcohol or substance abuse treatment.

(g) Supervised living.

(h) Transportation.

Acts 2008, No. 407, §2; Acts 2009, No. 384, §5, eff. July 1, 2010.