Welcome Our New 2012 Board Members!

Steve Miccio, Chief Executive Officer, PEOPLe, Inc., Poughkeepsie, NY
For over 12 years, Steve has worked to assist in transforming mental health services locally and nationally toward a system of recovery and wellness. His passion, personal mission and vision closely mirror PRA’s mission and vision in that people need access to psychiatric rehabilitation supports that are effective.

Steve is the Chief Executive Officer of Projects to Empower and Organize the Psychiatrically Labeled, Inc. (PEOPLe, Inc.) located in Poughkeepsie, NY. PEOPLe, Inc. is a peer operated advocacy and service organization serving people in 6 counties throughout New York State. Steve has been instrumental in designing and implementing crisis/hospital diversion services in New York, Nebraska, and the Netherlands. Steve is considered an expert in peer operated diversion services and emergency service design.

Steve has been a partner in published research around psychiatric emergency service delivery and served as a consultant to develop a book on creating standards of care in emergency psychiatry (Stefan, 2006). Recently, Steve has developed a curriculum for the placement of peer advocates in hospital emergency departments and behavioral health units. He also speaks and consults nationally and internationally on developing more effective approaches to crisis diversion services.

Steve is a member of the Mid Hudson NYS Office of Mental Health Suicide (SPEAK) Coalition, co-founder of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Hudson Valley Chapter, a governor appointed member of the New York State Council of Mental Health Services, past co-chair and current executive board member of New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS). Steve is the New York state affiliate representative and board member of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (PRA), as well as a faculty advisor to the Institute for Behavioral Healthcare Improvement and a member of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry (AAEP).

Liz Smithhart, MC, CPRP, LPC, Adult Services Director of SMI Programs for Maricopa County, Phoenix, AZ
Liz Smithhart is the Director of SMI Programs for Maricopa County in Arizona. She oversees the availability and accessibility of a full continuum of services (residential, outpatient, peer-run, transportation, co-occurring, as well as select support and follow-up services) for the Phoenix Metro area. Liz manages a network which serves more than 22,000 adult recipients. Under her leadership, her department has seen profitability and stability across all programs.

She has served as a behavioral health administrator, network/program developer, and direct practitioner within the State of Arizona public behavioral health system. She possess expertise in developing, implementing, managing and monitoring cross-population service management and development modalities based on evidence-based and emerging practices. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Arizona and a Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner.

As a PRA board member, Liz looks forward to strengthening and strategically advancing the availability and practice of psychiatric rehabilitation so that all individuals with a serious mental illness have access to the supports they need to recover.