Deborah Pitts appointed to California Mental Health Planning Council
June 28, 2013

Assistant professor of clinical occupational therapy Deborah Pitts PhD ’12, MBA, OTR/L, BCMH, CPRP, has been appointed to the California Mental Health Planning Council of the California Department of Health Care Services.

The CMHPC, comprised of 32 members, is charged by both federal and state mandates to advocate for adults with severe mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbances, provide oversight of the public mental health system, and advise the state government on priority state-wide issues. Appointments to the council are made by the Director of the Mental Health Services Division of DHCS. Pitts will also be serving on the Council’s Healthcare Reform Committee.

Pitts is an expert in both the philosophy and practice of psychiatric rehabilitation, schizophrenia, psychosocial rehabilitation, and community support programs for persons labeled with psychiatric disabilities. She has provided consultation to local and state providers of community-based psychiatric rehabilitation services, served as a behavioral health surveyor for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and chaired various working groups of the American Occupational Therapy Association including its Mental Health Special Interest Section.

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