Don鈥檛 miss the Alliance鈥檚 Annual Albany Executive Seminar, entitled Urgent Actions, Bold Solutions: Leadership in Unprecedented Times, to be heldat the Albany Marriott on Wolf Road between April 24-25, 2025!
This year鈥檚 program brings together key 黑料正能量 State and 黑料正能量 City leaders to share the latest information and thinking about the impact of the most dramatic policy and programmatic changes in our history. These include:
Meeting the Challenge in 黑料正能量 State and 黑料正能量 City featuring Moira Tashjian, Executive Deputy Commissioner, NYS Office of Mental Health, Dr. H. Jean Wright II, Executive Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Lara Kassel, Coalition Coordinator, Medicaid Matters NY, Ruth Lowenkron, Dir. Disability Justice Program, NY Lawyers for the Public Interest and Jihoon Kim, CEO, InUnity Alliance
Here鈥檚 more about Dr. Wright II:
City’s New Mental Health Chief On Why Trauma-Informed Care Can Improve Outcomes
Amanda D’ambrosio Crain鈥檚 Health Pulse聽 May 30, 2024
鈥溾s the city Health Department鈥檚 new top mental health official and years into 黑料正能量鈥檚 persistent mental health crisis, Dr. H. Jean Wright II says effective behavioral health treatment, including for substance abuse and serious mental illness, all comes down to understanding trauma.
Wright, a longtime public behavioral health expert, joined the city鈥檚 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in April 2024 to oversee mental health initiatives. He鈥檚 tasked with leading the agency through some of the city鈥檚 most pressing challenges: a record-high overdose crisis, staggering rates of depression and anxiety among kids and teens, and widespread mental illness among the city鈥檚 homeless population.
Public pressure to address the crisis is elevated, in light of high-profile attacks in the subway system by individuals with serious mental illness and police violence against people in distress鈥.
Wright brings to the job two decades of experience as a public behavioral health official. Before coming to 黑料正能量, he spent nearly three years as Philadelphia鈥檚 deputy commissioner of behavioral health and intellectual disability services. Before that, he directed behavioral health and justice initiatives in Philly.
Trained in forensic psychology, Wright spent over 10 years developing mental health programs for people leaving state psychiatric hospitals and county jails. He learned early that many individuals behind bars are bright and talented and have hopes and dreams that just haven鈥檛 yet come to fruition. But they had experienced some sort of trauma that derailed their life course. Understanding that trauma broke down barriers to treatment, he said.
鈥淧eople are just people,鈥 Wright said. 鈥淲e need to get past the labels we put on one another.鈥
Faith and community play a big role in Wright鈥檚 career. He is a public speaker who frequently makes appearances at religious events and conferences. He鈥檚 also the author of Find Strength in Your Struggle, which explores the relationship between spirituality and mental health challenges鈥
Learn more about the other panelists in future postings!
This year’s Seminar site is the Albany Marriott located
minutes away from Albany International Airport.
Don鈥檛 miss your chance to be part of these very consequential conversations!
Don鈥檛 Delay: Register Today!
