Connecticut State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

  

 

Make an impact. 

At the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), you will be part of a team of professionals providing recovery-oriented mental health and substance use disorder services. DMHAS clinicians help people to live fuller, happier, more stable lives.

Are you looking for a better work-life balance?

Our clinicians enjoy a full range of state employee benefits including top notch health insurance, pension and retirement benefits, 13 holidays, and generous accruals of paid time off, even with part time schedules of 20 hours a week. We make your career advancement easy with tuition assistance and career mobility benefits, and the opportunity to accrue licensing supervision hours while on the job. Being a state employee not only gives you the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, but the time to enjoy your own. 

State Employee Benefits Include:

About DMHAS:

DMHAS operates eight facilities providing a wide range of behavioral health treatment services to adults in both inpatient and/or outpatient settings. Facilities are located in every region of the state and each run multiple programs including 24-hour mobile crisis units, day treatment and inpatient hospitalization, outreach services, jail diversion programs, residential detoxification, long-term care and rehabilitation, restoration to competency and forensic services, and more. 

Connecticut Valley Hospital (Middletown/Hartford)

Whiting Forensic Hospital (Middletown)

River Valley Services (Middletown/Old Saybrook)

Southwest Connecticut Mental Health System (Bridgeport/Stamford)

Western Connecticut Mental Health Network (Danbury/Waterbury/Torrington) 

Capitol Region Mental Health Center (Hartford)

Connecticut Mental Health Center (New Haven)

Southeastern Mental Health Authority (Norwich)

 

Nancy Navarretta, MA, LPC, NCC

Commissioner, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

 

Ms. Navarretta has extensive experience in public and private program development, strategic planning, leadership, and process improvement resulting in the delivery of effective, recovery-oriented, and integrated healthcare systems.  In June 2021, she was appointed as Acting Commissioner of DMHAS, before being confirmed as Commissioner in 2022 and then being reappointed by Governor Lamont in 2023. DMHAS is an adult behavioral healthcare and lifespan prevention agency serving over 100,000 individuals annually. Ms. Navarretta prioritizes accessible, integrated behavioral health systems of care which are informed by multiple stakeholders including individuals with lived experience. She served as Deputy Commissioner of the department from 2015 – 2021 and was responsible for project management and strategic planning as part of executive leadership while managing several divisions/initiatives including evidenced-based practices supporting the recovery of individuals living with mental illness and the state’s opioid response efforts.  Ms. Navarretta began public service with DMHAS in 2013 as the Department’s Director of Behavioral Health Services.  In that capacity a number of divisions within the Office of the Commissioner reported to her, including Community Services, Managed Services, Evidenced Based Practices, Veteran’s Services, Research, and Statewide Services which include Long Term Services and Supports, Problem Gambling Services, Housing and Homeless Services, Older Adult Services, Special Education and Women’s Services. 

 

Ms. Navarretta came to the Department with many years of experience as a direct service mental health and addictions provider and behavioral healthcare administrator.  She maintains memberships with American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the American Counseling Association (ACA).  She received her BA in Psychology from Boston College and completed her graduate studies at Fordham University with a MA in Clinical Psychology.  Ms. Navarretta is Nationally Certified and is a Licensed Counselor in Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Prior to joining the Department, Ms. Navarretta’ s senior leadership roles included serving as Chief Operating Officer of Liberation Programs Inc., a private non-profit serving Fairfield County and Chief of Behavioral Health Services for Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving Greater New Haven.