Full Name: Dana Begin
Title and Organization: Director of the Evidence-Based Practices and Grants Division, within the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Office of the Commissioner
DPP Degree and Graduation Year: MPA Fellows, 2020
Dana Begin is the Director of the Evidence-Based Practices and Grants Division at the Office of the Commissioner (OOC) within the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). Dana is a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist (OT) and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy from Quinnipiac University (2000). She also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Connecticut (2020).
Dana has more than 18 years of experience in the mental health field and joined DMHAS in 2005.
Dana is the creator of a functional assessment called the Learning Inventory of Skills Development (L.I.S.T.) which is a tool that has been used statewide in the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for youth ages 14 and older.
Dana has published an article in the Occupational Journal in Mental Health (2017) and has presented her functional assessment (L.I.S.T.) at a national conference, The 30th Annual Research and Policy Conference on Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Behavioral Health (2017) and also at the Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association (ConnOTA) Semi-Annual Conference (2017). In her current role, Dana has oversight of the statewide implementation of 988, the new National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Line that was initiated in July of 2022. She is also working on the expansion of adult crisis services statewide, including the implementation of the first ever 23-hour Crisis Stabilization Unit in Connecticut and the first ever Peer Respite program in Connecticut.