Deputy Secretary

The Deputy Secretary serves as the chief operating officer of LDH and acts as spokesperson for the Department in the absence of the Secretary. The Deputy Secretary is the coordinator for LDH's Human Services Interagency Council (HSIC) and is solely responsible for direct supervision over the major offices listed below.

Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD): OCDD provides or directs the provision of supports and services for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

Office of Behavioral Health (OBH): OBH provides or directs the appropriate care and services for individuals with behavioral health disorders.

Office of Public Health (OPH): OPH develops, provides and assures public and environmental health services to protect and enhance the health of Louisiana citizens.

Office of Aging and Adult Services (OAAS): OAAS administers nursing facility admissions, develops new long-term care programs and implements other health care reform recommendations. This office brings together all of the long-term care programs that serve aging adults and people with adult-onset disabilities.

Office of Women's Health and Community Health (OWHCH): OWHCH is dedicated to focusing on improving women's health outcomes and serves as a clearing house, coordinating agency and resource center for women's health data and strategies.

Community Human Services Statewide Framework: The Framework provides a statewide planning process for the establishment of a statewide framework to govern the state and local delivery of addictive disorder, developmental disability, and mental health disorder services funded by appropriations from the state. It also provides for the development of a state human services plan, vision and mission statement; definitions of eligible and priority services populations; core and targeted services to individuals and families; standards for the geographic scope of service delivery and client intake process; and access for institutional and community based systems. The Framework will employ the use of best practices to build statewide strategies for service delivery.