| Advisory opinion request regarding whether Dr. Michael DeCaire may enter into a professional services contract with Dream Team Association, Inc. (Dream Team) and/or serve as an uncompensated board member for Dream Team while being employed by Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System (ELMHS). |
|
Dr. DeCaire is employed as the Assistant CEO of ELMHS which is an agency operating under the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), Office of Behavioral Health. ELMHS provides forensic psychiatric services to adults who have been deemed incompetent to proceed to trial, not guilty by reason of insanity, or who are in need of acute psychiatric stabilization. He directly oversees the community forensic services, secure forensic facility, and environment of care departments.
Dream Team intends on applying for a license from DHH as a behavioral health agency in order to provide behavioral health services to clients with Medicaid health benefits. Dr. DeCaire has been asked to serve as a consultant for Dream Team who intends on providing educational tutoring and behavioral modification services to children and adolescents. He would specifically provide a behavioral health program, policy and procedure review, serve as an uncompensated board member of the corporation, and provide consulting services as needed. Dream Team does not have a contract with ELMHS. The clients served by ELMHS and Dream Team would be mutually exclusive.
|
|
La. R.S. 42:1111C(1)A of the Code of Governmental Ethics (Code of Ethics) provides that "no public servant shall receive any thing of economic value for any service, the subject matter of which is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs, or operations of the agency of the public servant and in which the public servant has participated.
La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) prohibits a public servant from receiving anything of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered or to be rendered to a person who has or is seeking to have a contract with your agency.
|
|
|
Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
|
|
| Assigned Attorney: |
Brett Robinson |
|
|