Terrebonne coroner seeks parish support for intervention program to track residents with mental‑health and addiction crises

Assistant Coroner Patrick Walker presented a proposal to the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government Council on April 16 to create a TIPS (interception and prevention services) program aimed at identifying, tracking and linking residents with co‑occurring mental illness and substance use disorders to existing treatment services.

Walker told the council the program would focus on people who “fall through the cracks” after emergency‑department visits or brief psychiatric holds. He said the coroner’s office encounters these residents routinely through physician emergency certificates (PECs), orders of protective custody (OPCs) and coroner follow‑ups and that the office could act as a consistent point of contact to connect willing patients to outpatient or inpatient treatment. "If we can save 1 out of 10, 1 of 99, then we've done our job," Walker said.

The proposed startup budget Walker described includes an intake coordinator/social‑services position budgeted at $100,000 and roughly $3,000 in office expenses—"about $119,000," he said. Walker said the program would not provide clinical treatment itself but would “plug” individuals into existing providers such as Compass and hospital outpatient services and would be voluntary for participants.

The presentation emphasized the program’s focus on dual diagnosis—residents with both mental‑health conditions and substance use disorders—and on preventing fatal overdoses from fentanyl and other opioids. Walker cited autopsy experience, saying the majority of accidental drug‑overdose autopsies his office performs involve fentanyl. Richard Warren, chief investigator for the coroner’s office, urged support for prevention: "He's wanting to do something so they don't make it to the morgue," Warren said.

Council members asked for more detail about operations and overlap with new or developing mobile‑crisis services. Councilman Pleasure summarized the coroner's statistics and asked for a clearer budget breakdown; he told Walker he calculated an average of about 75 OPCs per month from the materials provided and said the coroner’s data showed cases broken down into roughly 33 mental‑illness only, 18 drug‑only, and 22 combined mental‑health and drug cases (attribution: Councilman Pleasure). Several council members — including Babin and Champagne — encouraged Walker to coordinate with existing court and crisis programs and to pursue partnerships that might reduce startup costs.

Parish President Jason Beseron said the administration is already working on related efforts, including plans for a 24‑7 crisis center and a new health unit, and that the administration would continue conversations with Walker and outside partners. "We're gonna be actually in conversation," Beseron told the council. Council members suggested the coroner coordinate with the court diversion and drug‑court programs, Region 3 behavioral‑health organizers, local hospital emergency departments and community partners; Walker said he has already been in contact with TGMC emergency‑department leadership and the Office of Behavioral Health about mobile‑crisis teams.

Several council members pushed for greater clarity on staffing and responsibilities. Walker said two staff (a coordinator and a counselor/social‑worker) could manage the initial workload and that the coroner’s office would obtain consent from individuals before follow‑up. He said the program would be voluntary and targeted at adults served by the local psychiatric facilities (Compass and the parish hospital EDs), noting the parish lacks enough local psychiatric beds and that some residents are currently sent out of parish.

No formal vote or appropriation was taken at the April 16 meeting. Council members and the parish administration directed staff to continue exploring collaborations, possible funding sources (including state and federal behavioral‑health funds and so‑called "fentanyl" or addiction crisis grants), and to return with more detailed operational and budget proposals. Walker said the coroner’s office would provide program metrics and be accountable for funding if the council chose to support the program.

What happens next: the council requested more detailed budget breakdowns and a program plan describing staffing, consent processes, data sharing and the proposed referral network. Walker said he will continue outreach to partner agencies and provide follow‑up information to the council and administration; no implementation timeline or final funding decision was reported at the meeting.