The Louisiana Department of Health must provide and coordinate services for autistic persons, with some education-related exceptions, and the program is subject to yearly evaluation and reporting.
CHAPTER 12. SERVICES TO AUTISTIC PERSONS §1301. Services to autistic persons; center of excellence for autism spectrum disorder; responsibility A. The Louisiana Department of Health shall be responsible for providing services to autistic persons, with the exception of those delineated by Part I of Chapter 8 of Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 and provided for by the Department of Education or the local school board or otherwise mandated by law to be provided by the Department of Education or the local school board. The Louisiana Department of Health shall be responsible for: (1) The establishment of a center of excellence for autism spectrum disorder within the office for citizens with developmental disabilities. This center may be operated by the office through formal agreements with the Department of Education and other appropriate public and private agencies including but not limited to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, and St. Mary's Residential Training School in Alexandria, or others. This center should be the core of activities providing services to autistic citizens including but not limited to early diagnosis and intervention and individualized programs involving school, home, and community throughout the life span of autistic citizens. The center shall give assistance to private and public agencies providing services to autistic citizens and their families. The center shall become a resource and training facility for educators and others charged with educating autistic citizens. The center, as well as any facilities constructed as a part of the center upon the appropriation of funds, shall be located in Caddo Parish. (2) Providing and/or coordinating all services to autistic citizens, other than those delineated by Part I of Chapter 8 of Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 or otherwise mandated by law to be provided by the Department of Education. (3) Coordination through formal agency agreements between the Louisiana Department of Health, its agencies, and the Department of Education to plan, develop, and implement longitudinal services to the autistic citizen. (4) Coordination through formal agency agreements with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for the development and operation of community based vocational programs, job placement, follow up, and additional support services. (5) The provision of living options in the community to include programming to meet the needs of each individual such as supervised apartment living and small group homes in the community. (6) Development of community based support programs including case management, parent training, home programming and medical services. (7) Continued support through formal agency agreements for the Department of Education's programs to train personnel who are providing services to autistic persons. This includes, but is not limited to, in-service training consisting of workshops and institutes. (8) Encouragement and cooperation in the development of university preservice training programs to prepare preservice personnel who may provide services to autistic persons. These courses should have authorized access to autistic programs for course work and practicum. (9) Increased and continuing efforts to support the Department of Education through formal agency agreements in providing effective educational services for children of ages three through twenty-one and to provide such services after age twenty-one. (10) Coordination with the Louisiana Society for Autistic Children as representative of the parents of autistic children in the implementation of the provisions of this Chapter. B. The services provided or coordinated by the Louisiana Department of Health shall be evaluated by the House and Senate committees on health and welfare at the end of the first fiscal year of the program and at the end of each subsequent fiscal year during which the program is continued. Such evaluation shall be designed to determine the effectiveness of the program in achieving its objectives. C. A report of the evaluation shall be made to the legislature upon which recommendations for continued funding or termination of the program shall be based. Acts 1988, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, §3, eff. Mar. 28, 1988; Acts 1989, No. 159, §3; Acts 2008, No. 154, §1; Acts 2018, No. 612, §14, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2019, No. 404, §1, eff. July 1, 2020.