Beacon Community Connections founder Holly Howat has joined the Louisiana Department of Health as its new assistant secretary of behavioral health.
Howat left her role as executive director of Beacon this summer after nearly a decade of leading the social care nonprofit. There, she spearheaded programs that included addressing the social determinants of health and peer support for those struggling with opioid use disorder. She also served as the first executive director of the Lafayette Parish Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee prior to starting Beacon.
During a panel at the South Louisiana Community Health Summit this week, organized by Beacon, Howat said her aim was to drive the expansion of programs such as Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC), and to seek community input on both needs and potential solutions for behavioral health issues…