FILE: JGCFA
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR STUDENTS
The Lafayette Parish School Board recognizes that social, emotional, and physical well-being are fundamental to college, career, and community readiness. Providing access to appropriate behavioral health services is one means of supporting the learning environment and is part of a comprehensive approach to providing students with opportunities for academic success. In addition to any behavioral health services provided by the School Board, the School Board shall allow parentally-selected, licensed/qualified behavioral health providers (community behavioral health providers) to provide medically necessary behavioral health services authorized by an independent third-party payor, including but not limited to Medicaid and commercial insurance, to an enrolled student at school during school hours if the student's parent or legal guardian submits a written request for such behavioral health provider and services to the Superintendent or Superintendent's designee and all other requirements of La. Rev. Stat Ann. §17:173 and §17:3996 and this policy are met. The authority of a student's Individualized Education Program Team or Section 504 Team to determine appropriate services for a student pursuant to applicable federal and state law shall not be superseded by any provisions of this policy.
No person who has been convicted of or pled nolo contendere to a crime listed in La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §15:587.1 (C) shall be permitted to provide behavioral health services
to a student at school during school hours.
In order to ensure the safety of students and maintain the integrity of the teaching-learning process, all community behavioral health providers seeking to provide behavioral health services at school sites during the school day must first make application to the Superintendent or designee and must agree to abide by all terms and conditions set forth in administrative procedures established by the Superintendent.
A behavioral health provider who provides services according to this policy shall:
Maintain general liability insurance coverage in an amount not less than $1,000,000.00 per occurrence and $1,000,000.00 per aggregate and provide a certificate of insurance naming the public school as the certificate holder.
Complete a criminal background check conducted by the Louisiana State Police and shall pay all related costs. Applied behavior analysis providers who are licensed, certified, or registered by the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board, who provide documentation of having passed a criminal background check conducted by the Louisiana State Police and are in good standing with the Board shall not be required to complete an additional criminal background check.
Behavioral health services shall be permitted during school hours if the student's parent or legal guardian presents a behavioral health evaluation performed by an evaluator as well as an assessment and authorized treatment plan performed by a behavioral health provider chosen by the parent or legal guardian and the evaluation indicates that the services are necessary during school hours to assist the student with behavioral health impairments associated with a medical diagnosis that the evaluator determines are interfering with the student's ability to thrive in the educational setting. A behavioral health evaluation or assessment presented by the parent or legal guardian of a student shall not be construed as an independent educational evaluation for purposes of determining if a student meets the criteria established for eligibility for special education and related services.
In addition, the parent or legal guardian of a student receiving services from a behavioral service provider shall be required to execute a consent to release information form between the provider and the School Board in order to begin providing behavior health services at a school.
No behavioral health evaluation, assessment, or authorized treatment plan shall be prohibited from being performed on school property in order to establish medical necessity or to deliver medically necessary services. Behavioral health services may be provided during any part of the school day, including any and all instructional time in English, reading, mathematics, and science The school administrator and service provider shall work collaboratively to create a consistent schedule that meets the medical needs of the student and complies with the provider's ethical code of conduct. In developing the student's plan, consideration shall include impacts on a school's operations and a student's testing schedule. If the parties cannot agree, then the parties shall engage in a dispute resolution process set forth by the state Department of Education.
The School Board shall not enter into a contract or an exclusive agreement with a behavioral health provider that prohibits the parent or legal guardian from choosing the behavioral health provider for the student. However, the provisions of this paragraph shall not impair any existing contract on the effective date of this policy, or the renewal thereof.
The cost of all behavioral health services provided to a student shall be the sole responsibility of the parent or legal guardian, individually or through an applicable health insurance policy, Medicaid, or other third-party payor, other than the School Board, that has made funds available for the payment for the services provided.
The School Board shall establish reporting requirements for a behavioral health provider related to the student's progress and student and school safety concerns as related to the student's educational program.
The Superintendent shall approve administrative procedures to provide for student safety and effective implementation of this policy.
The School Board may establish sanctions, including termination of a provider's authorization to provide services on any school campus, against a behavioral health provider for failure to comply with the provisions of this policy and associated procedures and/or any other School Board policy and procedures.
Any behavioral health evaluation, assessment, or treatment plan administered by the School Board shall not supersede the behavioral health evaluation, assessment, or treatment plan provided by an independent behavioral health provider of a student's parent's choosing. Any applied behavior analysis services provided by the School Board shall be delivered either by behavioral health providers licensed, certified, or registered by the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §37:3701 et seq. or behavioral health providers providing services in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §37:3715.
DEFINITIONS
Applied behavior analysis provider shall mean a provider who is licensed, certified, or registered by the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board and is in good standing to provide applied behavior analysis services.
Applied behavior analysis services shall include the design, implementation, and evaluation of systematic instructional and environmental modifications by an applied behavior analysis provider to produce socially significant improvements in behavior as described in the Behavior Analyst Practice Act.
A community behavioral health provider shall mean a provider who is licensed by the Louisiana Department of Health or a health profession licensing board and is in good standing to provide behavioral health services in Louisiana but is not an employee of the School Board, including but not limited to a psychiatrist, psychologist, medical psychologist, licensed specialist in school psychology, marriage and family therapist, professional counselor, clinical social worker, applied behavioral analysis provider, or a behavioral health provider organization licensed to provide behavioral health services in Louisiana.
Community behavioral health services shall include but not be limited to individual psychotherapy, family psychotherapy, psychotropic medication management, community psychiatric support and treatment, crisis intervention, and medically necessary applied behavior analysis services.
Evaluator shall mean a licensed psychiatrist, psychologist, medical psychologist, licensed specialist in school psychology, professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, or clinical social worker who is certified by the respective board of examiners in Louisiana to provide necessary evaluations and who is not an employee of the School Board or the Louisiana Department of Education.
Behavioral health evaluation shall include but not be limited to the following criteria.
Diagnosis
Type of intervention
Length of intervention
Identification of a student's goals
Identification of impact of student behavior on a student's educational program
Recommendations for applied behavior analysis services.
For purposes of this policy, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Independent third-party payor means an individual who serves as a case reviewer for Medicaid or commercial insurers.
Medically necessary services means services that meet the following requirements:
Provided for the diagnosis, treatment, cure, or relief of a health condition, illness, injury, or disease.
Except for clinical trials that are described within the policy, not for experimental, investigational, or cosmetic purposes.
Within the generally accepted standards of medical care in the community.
Not solely for the convenience of the insured, the insured's family, or the provider.
No provisions of this policy shall be construed to supersede any of the following:
The authority of a student's Individualized Education Program Team or Section 504 Committee to determine appropriate services for a student pursuant to applicable federal and state law.
The provisions of the Behavioral Health Services Provider Licensing Law or any regulation promulgated by the Louisiana Department of Health pursuant to that law.
The provisions of the Behavior Analysis Practice Act.
| New policy: October 3, 2018 | Recoded from JGCF: June, 2024 |
| Revised: November 13, 2019 | Revised: September 18, 2024 |
Ref: 20 USC 1232(g-i) (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:7, 17:173
Board minutes 10-3-18, 11-13-19, 9-18-24
Lafayette Parish School Board