§ 28:70 — Written treatment plan for involuntary outpatient treatment

§70. Written treatment plan for involuntary outpatient treatment
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 R.S. 28:69(A) at least three days before the date of the hearing on the petition.
D.(1) Services may 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.

Legislative History

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; Acts 2024, No. 166, §1.