The Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health would like to inform its providers and other stakeholders about the departure of Felix Rodriguez, DMH's Deputy Director of Community Programs. His last day will be July 14, 2023. He is leaving to serve as a Senior Vice President at Family Guidance Centers, focusing on medication-assisted treatment and delivering community behavioral health services. We are excited for Felix's new opportunity, but he will be sorely missed.
DMH will soon begin a broad search for a new Deputy Director of Community Programs. Until the position is filled, providers can communicate directly with their assigned Administrator(s) for program-specific questions. Their contact information is listed below.
Crisis
- Programming and contracts related to mental health crisis services, including, but not limited to, the crisis care system, suicide prevention, Living Rooms, and crisis residential. Roberta Allen is the Administrator of Crisis Community Programs.
Forensics
- Programming and contracts related to forensic services and justice involvement, including, but not limited to, outpatient fitness restoration and forensic community reintegration. Jason Stamps is the Administrator of Forensic Community Programs.
Housing & Residential
- Programming and contracts related to housing and residential services, including, but not limited to, mental health CILAs, supported residential, and supervised residential programs. Ashley Bae is the Administrator of Housing & Residential Community Programs.
Children & Youth
- Programming and contracts related to children and adolescents, including, but not limited to, stepped care. Victoria Gwiasda is the Administrator of Children & Youth Community Programs.
General
- All other programming and contracts not included in one of the above categories, except for Colbert & Williams consent decree-specific activities. Darius McKinney is the Administrator of General Community Programs.
Any questions that cannot be answered by one of the Community Programs Administrators can be directed to Ryan Rollinson, DMH Chief of Staff, at Ryan.Rollinson@illinois.gov.
Felix has been with DMH since June 2019. He began as the Executive Director of Region 1 Central and Acting Deputy Director of Regional Operations and was then named Deputy Director of Regional Operation in April 2020. He was leading DMH's Regional Operations team as COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold. In this role, Felix helped staff and community providers stay abreast of the rapidly changing guidance, rules, and regulations related to the pandemic.
Felix was also focused on transforming how DMH supports our community operations. In collaboration with Division and Department leadership, Felix helped to restructure the regional operations team into the Bureau of Community Programs, becoming the Deputy Director of Community Programs. Leading a team through this type of transformation is an incredible challenge, and Felix has met this challenge admirably.
Please join me in congratulating Felix on his new role and celebrating his success at DMH.
Sincerely,
David Albert, PhD
Director
Division of Mental Health
Illinois Department of Human Services
