Louisiana § RS 46:1941.8 - Children and youth services advisory boards; members; duties

§ RS 46:1941.8. Children and youth services advisory boards; members; duties

A.  Each planning board shall consist of a minimum of eleven, but not more than twenty-five members.  Special care should be given in the appointments to ensure that the board is representative of the community in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and geography, as well as knowledge and expertise.  Those appointed shall include the following, if available and willing to serve, but need not be limited to:

(1)  Members of the education community that are representative of and knowledgeable about early childhood, elementary, secondary, and special education.

(2)  Members of the criminal justice community that are representative of and knowledgeable about law enforcement, prosecution, public defense, and the judiciary.  Wherever possible, a member of the judiciary elected to the juvenile court bench should be included.

(3)  Members of the health care community that are:

(a)  Representative of and knowledgeable about physical health, mental health, and early childhood substance abuse prevention and treatment services.

(b)  Repealed by Acts 2011, No. 207, §9.

(4)  Members of  the social services community that are representative of and knowledgeable about child in need of care services, foster parenting, and child and family support programs.

(5)  Members of the faith-based communities.

(6)  Members of the business and labor communities.

(7)  Members of parenting and youth organizations.

B.  The parish governing authority shall make the appointments for a period of two years.  In the case of a judicial district which encompasses more than one parish, cooperating parish governing authorities may formulate a plan of representation and may add representatives to the board from each participating parish.

C.(1)  The children and youth planning boards shall actively participate in the formulation of a comprehensive plan for the development, implementation, and operation of services for children and youth and make formal recommendations to the parish governing authority or joint parish governing authorities at least annually concerning the comprehensive plan and its implementation during the ensuing year.

(2)  In its formulation of the comprehensive plan, the children and youth planning boards shall do all of the following, but shall not be limited to the following:

(a)  Identify all resources available to meet the needs of children and youth by comprehensively examining resources and services that target children and youth.  These services may include but are not limited to prevention, early intervention, education, and treatment.

(b)  Assess the needs of children and youth in the local community, incorporating reliable data sources.

(c)  Develop and select the appropriate evidence-based strategies or programs to meet those needs identified by soliciting community input and developing a strategic plan to best address the needs of children and youth in the respective community.  This strategic plan should have measurable goals and objectives and should be evaluated annually to ensure its effectiveness.

(d)  Collaborate with schools, law enforcement, judicial system, health care providers, and others to ensure goals and treatment needs are being met.

(e)  Ensure effective delivery of prevention programs in the community through training, technical assistance, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure effective outcomes are achieved.

(f)  Report annually by October first to the office of youth services and the Children's Cabinet the results of such assessments.  Performance indicators and benchmarks from the reports will be used for planning at both the state and community levels.

D.  All proceedings of the children and youth planning boards and any committee or subgroup thereof, shall be subject to the provisions of R.S. 42:12 and 42:25, and all votes taken of members shall be recorded and shall become matters of public record.

E.  The boards shall promulgate and implement rules concerning attendance of members at board meetings.  The members may also elect their own officers.

Added by Acts 1978, No. 300, §1; Acts 1990, No. 696, §1; Acts 2004, No. 555, §1; Acts 2008, No. 568, §2, eff. June 30, 2008; Acts 2011, No. 207, §9.