In Louisiana, public mental health care is overseen by the Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) within the Louisiana Department of Health, with local services run by regional human services districts and authorities. Louisiana 988 offers free, confidential support by call, text or chat 24 hours a day, and the state's Louisiana Crisis Response System can send a mobile crisis team or point you to walk in crisis help when you call 988 or the Louisiana Crisis Hub at 855-242-2735. NAMI Louisiana, based in Baton Rouge, lists free NAMI Connection and Family Support groups, both in person and online.
The state says its community behavioral health clinics help everyone, whether or not they can pay.
Day to day mental health care in Louisiana is run by 10 regional human services districts and authorities, which operate behavioral health clinics offering assessment, emergency crisis care, treatment and medication management. For longer inpatient stays, OBH runs two state psychiatric hospitals: Central Louisiana State Hospital in Pineville and the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson. Academic psychiatry is based in New Orleans, at LSU Health New Orleans and Tulane, and in Shreveport at LSU Health Shreveport, which also runs an inpatient psychiatric unit at LSU Health Conway in Monroe. Louisiana 211 serves all 64 parishes, and after declared disasters the state's Louisiana Spirit program sends crisis counselors into affected communities.
Crisis lines
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 anywhere in the United States, including from Louisiana. Free and confidential, 24 hours a day. For chat, visit 988lifeline.org.
- Louisiana 988. The state's 988 site explains what happens when you call, text or chat and lists reasons to reach out, from a hard day to thoughts of suicide. Specialists answer 24/7 at no cost.
- Louisiana 211 Statewide Network. A free information and referral service covering all 64 parishes, run by a network of nonprofit organizations. Dial 211 or text your zip code to 898-211 to find local health and human services.
Crisis care and mobile crisis
- Louisiana Crisis Response System (LA-CRS). OBH's crisis system includes mobile crisis teams that come to you, Behavioral Health Crisis Centers that operate as walk in centers 24 hours a day, and follow up crisis support for up to 15 days. Start by calling 988 or the Louisiana Crisis Hub at 855-24CARE5 (855-242-2735).
State mental health authority
- Office of Behavioral Health (OBH). The LDH office that manages services for people with mental illness and addictive disorders, oversees community treatment through the human services districts and authorities, and runs the state's psychiatric hospitals. Call 225-342-2540 with questions.
- OBH Mental Health Services. Explains how to get treatment in your region, including community behavioral health clinics, contracted acute inpatient units, first episode psychosis programs and the two state hospitals in Pineville and Jackson.
NAMI Louisiana
- NAMI Louisiana. The statewide NAMI organization, offering free support groups, classes and advocacy, with a calendar that includes NAMI Connection and Family Support groups run by affiliates such as NAMI Baton Rouge and NAMI Southeast Louisiana. Call the office at (225) 291-6262 or toll free at (866) 851-6264; in a crisis, call 988.
Community mental health centers
- Human Services Districts and Authorities (LGEs). Louisiana's 10 regional Local Governing Entities provide behavioral health and developmental disability services for the parishes in their region. Find the district or authority that covers your parish and contact its clinic for an assessment.
Treatment locators
- FindTreatment.gov. The federal locator for mental health and substance use treatment. Search by Louisiana zip code and filter by payment type.
- Louisiana Medicaid Find a Provider. LDH's page linking to provider search tools for people in a Healthy Louisiana health plan and for people with fee for service (legacy) Medicaid. You can also call your health plan for help finding a provider.
University and academic medical centers
- LSU Health New Orleans, Department of Psychiatry. The LSU School of Medicine psychiatry department, with adult residency programs in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and fellowships in child and adolescent, addiction and consultation liaison psychiatry. Its clinic office at the Behavioral Science Center is 504-412-1580.
- Tulane Medicine Behavioral Health. Clinics run by Tulane's Department of Psychiatry in the New Orleans area, open weekdays 8am to 5pm. Adult psychiatry downtown is 504-988-4794, the Metairie clinic is 504-988-7250, and child and adolescent services (T-CAPPS) are 504-988-5405.
- LSU Health Shreveport, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. Outpatient psychiatric care for all ages at 1606 Kings Highway in Shreveport, where the resident clinic sees uninsured, Medicaid and Medicare patients with a physician referral. Call (318) 626-2445 to make an appointment.
Other state programs
- Louisiana Spirit Crisis Counseling Program. A free OBH program that sends crisis counselors into communities after declared disasters for counseling, stress management and referrals. Email [email protected]; for immediate help, call or text 988.