La. closing Evolutions program
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The state is closing a Greenwell Springs outpatient treatment program for emotionally disturbed children who have trouble functioning in schools.
The “Evolutions” program serves students within a seven-parish area from elementary through high school.
Students go for three months and continue their education while receiving treatment. It’s a day program with the students returning home at night to their families.
Evolutions is scheduled to close Dec. 18.
Dr. Richard Dalton, medical director of the state Office of Mental Health, said the program is being closed because it is not being used. The state is not getting “as much bang for the buck,” he said.
He said he wants to divert some of the $800,000 annually spent on Evolutions to help the same students in other community settings.
But a social worker claims state officials are “sitting on applications” to intentionally paint a picture that Evolutions is not needed.
Social worker Joan Wallyn said future students who might need help would have nowhere else to go. “They have created a crisis for a bunch of families,” she said.
Meanwhile, Capital Area Human Services District executive director Jan Kasofsky said a school-based option is necessary.
Evolutions has been around for 13 years. It is run by the state Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System on its Greenwell Springs campus. The educational support is provided by the Louisiana Department of Education’s Special School District 1.
Today, the program has only eight students, according to state Department of Health and Hospitals records.
DHH spokesman Jeff Greenwald said the Evolutions program never had more than about 13 students during the past four years. The program is designed to treat up to 50 people.
Wallyn, the social worker, said that in spite of health agency claims, the program is needed.
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