The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals will privatize state-run group homes for developmentally disabled people, officials have announced.

Among the 31 group homes that will be privatized are six affiliated with Pinecrest Supports and Services Center in Pineville.

"The next 24 months are going to be very difficult," said Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine.

"Gov. (Bobby) Jindal made clear he wanted us to protect services for the elderly and the disabled as we approached the mid-year budget challenges," levine said. "He also has inspired us to find ways to provide the same or better services but at a lower cost. With the budget challenges we face, it is important we be methodical and targeted while also recognizing the economic reality that revenues are simply lower and will likely be for some time."

The privatization is part of $108 million in cuts to the department, the largest by any state department as part of Jindal's effort to eliminate a $248 million budget shortfall.

The Office of Citizens with Developmental Disabilities is losing 479 jobs, the most of any DHH division, and $8.5 million in funding. Most of that is coming from the transition of 31 group homes from state to private control.

A DHH news release states that the daily cost to the state of keeping a resident in a group home is $366. The average daily cost at a private home, the release said, is $208. According to those figures, that would result in a savings of more than $57,000 per year per resident.

Administrators at Pinecrest and DHH were unavailable for comment Thursday, as offices were closed.

Rich Dupree, chief of staff for Pineville Mayor Clarence Fields, confirmed there are six group homes in the area. He did not know how many residents are at the homes, but typically they house between four to six people. The DHH release said the 31 homes have 156 residents -- an average of about five residents per home.

Dupree also did not know how many jobs would be affected. Pinecrest is among the largest employers in Central Louisiana, with more than 1,800 employees.

"Pinecrest is a significant part of our local economy," Dupree said. "In speaking with them, I knew they were concerned about the future as far as where the DHH cuts were going to be. Hopefully, this will not have as large an effect on the whole operation as it does on one small component of it."

The Office of Mental Health is losing more money -- nearly $6 million in state money and $13.9 million total -- and a total of 178 jobs, both open and filled. That includes $6.6 million announced earlier this month for the state's three psychiatric hospitals -- Central Louisiana State Hospital in Pineville, Southeast Louisiana Hospital and East Louisiana mental health System.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.