The department must create mental-health treatment resources and programs for inmates, provide intake screening and annual staff training subject to funding/resources, and help arrange community mental-health follow-up before release when feasible.
§830. Treatment of inmates with mental illness or intellectual disability A. This Section shall be cited and referred to as the "Mental Healing Justice for Incarcerated People Act". B. It is the intent of the legislature that the state of Louisiana shall allocate state funding for the Mental Healing Justice for Incarcerated People Act to ensure both the access and delivery of quality care for individuals incarcerated within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The legislature also finds that access to high-quality mental health services, regardless of the setting, is of importance. The state wholly supports efforts to assist incarcerated individuals suffering from severe and persistent mental illnesses in their efforts to navigate incarceration and reentry into society. C.(1) The department shall establish resources and programs for the treatment of inmates with a mental illness or an intellectual disability either in a separate facility or as part of other institutions or facilities of the department. (2)(a) Subject to appropriation by the legislature and the availability of resources, the department shall provide screening to persons entering state prison facilities, upon intake, for mental health disorders as defined in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. (b) At any point during the person's incarceration, any department staff member who suspects that an incarcerated person may have a mental illness may refer that person to the facility's mental health department. (3) Subject to appropriation by the legislature and the availability of resources, the department shall provide Mental Health First Aid training to employees on an annual basis. (4) The department may utilize trained peer support who have shared lived experiences to augment and enhance mental health services. (5) To the extent feasible and subject to the availability of department and community resources, the department, prior to the release of an incarcerated person, shall provide an incarcerated person who has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness an appointment or walk-in instructions for a community mental health provider to ensure continuity of care. D. On the recommendation of appropriate medical personnel and with the consent of the Louisiana Department of Health or other appropriate department, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections may transfer an inmate for observation and diagnosis to the Louisiana Department of Health or other appropriate department or institution for a period not to exceed the length of his sentence. If the inmate is found to be subject to civil commitment for psychosis or other mental illness or intellectual disability, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall initiate legal proceedings for such commitment. If the inmate is not represented by counsel at such legal proceedings, the court shall appoint an attorney to represent him. Reasonable attorney fees shall be fixed by the judge and shall be paid by the state. While the inmate is in such other institution, his sentence shall continue to run. E. When, in the judgment of the administrator of the institution to which an inmate has been transferred, he has recovered from the condition which occasioned the transfer, he shall be returned to the department, unless his sentence has expired. Added by Acts 1968, No. 192, §1. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 609, §1, eff. July 23, 1980; Acts 2014, No. 811, §7, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2023, No. 214, §1.