Evidence-based budget process

A. Legislative staff and any other staff of agencies of the state that may be necessary and applicable shall develop guidelines to incorporate the provisions of this Section to establish a pilot evidence-based budget proposal process for adult mental health programs administered by the Louisiana Department of Health. The guidelines shall be submitted to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget on or before July 1, 2018, for review and approval. The proposal shall include guidelines to utilize program catalogues, program inventory, promising practices, and research-based programs. The guidelines shall include a determination of staffing and costs necessary to implement the provisions of Subsection B of this Section. No later than July 1, 2019, when possible, the Louisiana Department of Health shall use the guidelines for evidence-based budgeting to select programs for the delivery of care for adult mental health. B. Staff identified and approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget in the guidelines shall work in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of Health to: (1) Inventory programs. (2) Categorize all agency programs and activities as evidence-based, research-based, promising practices, or other programs and activities with no evidence of effectiveness, and compile them into an agency program inventory. In categorizing programs, the staffs may consult the Washington State Institute for Public Policy's Evidence-Based Practices Institute's program catalogue, the Results First Clearinghouse Database, or any other comparable catalogue of evidence-based programs.