Remarks by
Joyce Berry
Director, Division of State and Community Systems Development
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Introduction of Mr. Curie
2003 CMHS Joint National Block Grant/
National Statistics Conference
Washington, D.C.
May 28, 2003
Good morning everyone, and welcome. Thank you for your gracious introduction of me. I like to think that I work very hard to deserve the kind words people say about me.
In a few minutes, I'm going to introduce Charles Curie, who is the Administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. As I can personally attest, Charley Curie deserves every word that I can say about his many remarkable accomplishments.
But first, I'd like to say a few words before this meeting of the 2003 Joint National Block Grant/National Statistics Conference. We have gathered here together to find ways to promote resiliency and recovery through planning and data partnerships in a time of economic austerity. As we all know, this effort is critical. With increasing needs and decreasing funding, the time to take action is now… the time to combine our planning and our information is now… and the time to take what we know to be RIGHT, and make it REAL, is now.
We at SAMHSA and the Center for Mental Health Services see one of our most important future roles to be working with the President, with professionals in the field, and with consumers to take the recommendations made by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and make them a reality.
In making its recommendations, the Commission is focusing on ways to break down the barriers to recovery. It is President Bush's goal—as it is the goal of all of gathered here—that those persons living with mental illness be able to access the full range of services they need for recovery so that they, too, can enjoy a job, a home, and meaningful relationships with family and friends.
SAMHSA and the Center for Mental Health Services will be working with you in seeking ways to turn the Commission's recommendations into reality. This must be a united effort, and one that is championed by a strong family and consumer movement. To quote Henry Ford, "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." We all need to do our part in working together so that success—the success of recovery—comes to those we serve.
Charles Curie is a long-standing champion of a recovery-oriented agenda. He has had more than 20 years of professional experience in the mental health and substance abuse arena. His commitment to helping those living with mental illness realize the dream of equal access to full participation in American society has earned him national recognition.
Before joining SAMHSA, Mr. Curie was appointed by then- Governor Tom Ridge as Deputy Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Pennsylvania's State Department of Public Welfare.
During his tenure, he implemented a nationally recognized Medicaid managed-care program for mental health and drug and alcohol abuse treatment. He also established and put into effect a policy to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the use of seclusion and restraint practices in the State hospital system…a program that earned the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award in 2000.
Mr. Curie combines government program management with compassion. His knowledge of the needs and dreams of those living with mental illness is not based solely on written recommendations. While working with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, he talked with people constantly. He talked to patients in the State hospitals, consumers in drop-in centers, and clients in drug and alcohol rehab or residential programs. He made it a practice to spend a night or two every year in a State hospital. He didn't want the standard "grand tour" of a facility; he wanted to KNOW what the patients saw, and felt, and needed from their perspective.
In November 2001, President Bush appointed Mr. Curie as SAMHSA's new Administrator. Mr. Curie came to Washington with a vision…and a promise to take action. He is here today to share his vision and his promise with you.
Please join me in welcoming Mr. Charles Curie.
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Material may have been added or omitted in the presentation.
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