Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Louisiana program

Specialty clinics and family support (Children’s Special Health Services)

Children’s Special Health Services offers specialty clinics and family support for Louisiana children with long-term conditions.

What it is

Children’s Special Health Services offers specialty clinics and family support for Louisiana children with long-term conditions.

This program connects families with specialty care and local services. Its family resource line can help identify what is available nearby. The clinic must check whether your child’s condition and circumstances fit.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be under 21 and live in Louisiana.
  • The program serves serious chronic physical illnesses or disabilities likely to limit major life activities.
  • Cancer is not on the clinic list by name, so the program checks whether your child’s condition or needs fit. Call 504-568-3504 or email cshsprogram@la.gov.
What you get
  • Specialty clinic care and family support.
  • Local service and referral information through CSHS at 504-568-3504.
What the help covers
  • The central program confirms current clinic locations and regional alternatives. A referral for information and family support does not guarantee acceptance by a treatment clinic.
  • CSHS offers specialty-clinic and family-resource connections. The central program can identify the current service or referral for your parish, including alternatives where a clinic is not available. This is not a promise that CSHS will pay cancer-treatment or travel bills.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the CSHS central program which clinic or referral serves your parish and how to request it.
  2. Have your child’s diagnosis letter, address and insurance information ready.

Children’s Special Health Services: 504-568-3504 or cshsprogram@la.gov. · Official page ↗

After you apply
  • The program can confirm whether the referral is complete, which clinic is reviewing it and when to expect a response. Your social worker can follow up with CSHS at 504-568-3504 or cshsprogram@la.gov when a referral stalls.
Good to know

The clinic’s condition list gives examples. The program can explain whether your child’s cancer-related needs qualify.

Other details
  • For transportation, the program directs families to their Medicaid health plan first.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Children’s Special Health Services offer anything useful for my child? Could you explain the costs and limits, then help with a referral if it fits?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand whether there is useful local support beyond our cancer clinic.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Call the resource line and complete the clinic application if it fits.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker knows whether the regional clinic adds anything for a child already in oncology care.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The Louisiana Bureau of Family Health.
Ask the agency
“My child has leukaemia and is under 21. Is that inside the Children's Special Health Services list, what is the income rule, and what does it cost us?”

How to apply

First step: Ask CSHS at 504-568-3504 or cshsprogram@la.gov which clinic or referral serves your parish.

  1. Call the family resource line on 504-896-1340 and ask what runs in your region.
  2. Ask plainly whether a leukaemia diagnosis is inside the eligibility list and what the income rule is.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Start with the application linked from the clinic page, or call the central office on 504-568-3504.

What to gather

  • Your child's diagnosis letter
  • Your parish and address
  • Your insurance or Medicaid card

How long: CSHS confirms receipt, missing records, the reviewing clinic and expected response date. No program-specific fixed processing clock was verified on September 17, 2026.

What a yes looks like

A clinic appointment or a named contact for services in your region.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which rule was used, because the published condition list is described as examples rather than a complete list.

Watch out

  • No cancer line was found in its condition list either way, so ask rather than assume.
  • Its transport help asks you to go to your Medicaid health plan first.
  • CSHS confirms the current clinic or alternative referral for each parish. The September 17, 2026 review did not establish current Region 1 and Region 7 arrangements.

Dates that change this

2026-09-10: Whether a cancer diagnosis is inside the eligibility list, the 2026 income cutoffs and any cost share were all not found. The application form and the clinic map returned errors. This is unresolved, not a finding that the programme excludes cancer. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Specialty clinic care and family support for Louisiana residents under 21 with serious chronic conditions, plus a family resource line.

Covers: Specialty medical care at clinics around the state · Family support services · Statewide CSHS information and referrals: 504-568-3504 or cshsprogram@la.gov.

What it costs the family: The 2026 income rules and any cost share were NOT FOUND. Ask before assuming anything is free.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 21
Residency
Louisiana
Condition
certain serious chronic physical illnesses or disabilities likely to limit major life activities; the published list is explicitly of commonly seen conditions and is not exhaustive
Income
the family page names Medicaid or CSHS income rules; the 2026 figures were NOT FOUND
Geography
CSHS confirms the current clinic or alternative referral for each parish. The September 17, 2026 review did not establish current Region 1 and Region 7 arrangements.

The trap: No leukaemia or cancer line was found in the eligibility list either way, and the income rules and cost shares for 2026 were not published. The list on the state page is described as commonly seen conditions rather than a complete one, so a cancer diagnosis is not ruled out. Ask; do not assume.

Where I read this

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