| Advisory opinion request regarding whether Dr. Sue Austin, a former employee of the Department of Health and Hospital's Office of Behavioral Health, would be prohibited from contracting with the Office of Behavioral Health to conduct psychological evaluations of homeless individuals who are being served by a federal grant. |
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Prior to April 1, 2016, Dr. Sue Austin was employed with the Department of Health and Hospital's Office of Behavioral Health (Office) as the Program Manager 4 over 24-hour programs, which include hospitals and residential substance use treatment facilities. Dr. Austin also served as the forensic liaison and dealt with policy and services affecting the adult forensic population who are incompetent to stand trial as well as those who have been determined to be unrestorably incompetent.
The contract with the Office will involve conducting psychological evaluations of identified homeless individuals in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans communities and submitting the report to the Office to enable them to establish a history on the individual and also use the information to apply for available benefits, such as social security disability, for the individual. Dr. Austin never provided direct services as part of her employment with the Office. Furthermore, she did not supervise the individual responsible for the grant nor did she oversee the program in any way. Finally, the tasks to be completed under the contract with the Office are completely different from anything Dr. Austin did in her position with the Office.
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La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) prohibits a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of her public employment, from assisting another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which she participated at any time during her public employment and involving her former governmental entity, or for a period of two years following termination of her public employment, from rendering any service which she had rendered to the agency during the term of her public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of her former agency.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Haley Williams |
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