Louisiana can’t stop me doing what I love. Ursula Newell Davis questions me in my latest video.
Newell-Davis helped many people. As a social worker, she has worked for more than 20 years with special-needs children. This is something that she’s very good at.
Kamal says, “She taught me to communicate with people.” Kamal has never been friends.
His mother added, “She explained some things to me that I did not understand about my children.”
Newell Davis helped families just like hers. She is adored by her clients.
Her goal is to reach more children with her business, which focuses on providing “respite” care. Respite means to act as a backup caregiver for a primary caretaker. For a brief period of time, they can be a backup caregiver.
Newell Davis says, “Someone can go in to teach their child something different.”
The woman has two degrees: a bachelor’s and a master’s. She also holds a social worker license. Louisiana bureaucrats will not allow her to do respite work unless “there is a requirement for an additional HCBS providers in the geographical location for which she is applying” and “the likelihood of severe, adverse consequences for recipients’ access to health care if they are not licensed.”
What!? Why?
Newell Davis says Louisiana would like to restrict the amount of regulatory agencies that they can have. It makes life easier for the state.
Is it easy for the state to do? It’s true.
Anastasia Boden from the Pacific Legal Foundation assists Newell-Davis with a Louisiana lawsuit to overturn the law.
Boden states that Louisiana gives no idea how to demonstrate your need. It wouldn’t be easy for any entrepreneur to do that, even if they could.
When I was thinking about my job, I realized that it wasn’t possible to prove I was needed.
You can only find the truth if you open your door and give it a shot. replies Boden.
Newell Davis is not permitted to make such a move.
She provided all the information required by regulators. She paid her $200 fee and rented an office. She wrote pages on rising youth crime, and what respite could do for them.
Louisiana, however, said it wasn’t enough.
In fact, Louisiana turns down The majority applicants.
This is absurd. Children with special needs need extra help.
Government’s explanation: “Regulating can be resource-intensive.” The government’s excuse: “Regulating is a resource-intensive process.”
A better way to reduce the time it takes to apply would be to streamline.
Boden says, “Imagine that the government claimed it doesn’t have sufficient money to conduct driver’s licensing exams.” This is not a valid excuse.
I attempted to interview a regulator but he would not answer my emails or phone calls.
A Stossel TV producer then went to Baton Rouge.
My video shows that government offices look very good. They should spend less money on building and invest more in serving the people.
Security guards diligently called each health department representative one after the other. The call went straight to voicemail.
Rejecting applicants is too much? Sleeping? Sleeping?
Later one sent us an email saying, “We’d be happy to work…on providing information.”
“TravailIt?” Is providing information so hard? They must. They have not told us any news for weeks.
39 states also have similar laws. These laws are called “CON laws”, because they require entrepreneurs to obtain “Certificates for Need” in order to be able open specific businesses. They need to show they are necessary.
It is required by some states for moving companies, hospitals and ambulance services.
Kentucky’s CON law means that people have to wait longer before they can get to the hospital.
Louisiana is the only state to apply its CON law for respite care.
Boden says that Louisiana consumers are not as satisfied with the care they receive. “Complaints increase year by year.”
Why are these laws still on the books?
Because established businesses don’t like competition. They lobby legislators and they do their best to protect them.
Consumers get screwed.
JFS PRODUCTIONS INC. COPYRIGHT 2021