Heather Jefferis is the Executive Director of the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health (OCBH). In this role, she participates in a wide variety of forums. This is to ensure member voice is present and actionable. Her charge from the OCBH Board is to grow the council's capacity to represent, serve and lift the voice of their diverse statewide membership.
The council has more than 50 members who represent the full integrated continuum of behavioral health care (including mental health and substance use disorder services) -- from prevention through treatment. Membership represents urban, rural and frontier regions of Oregon, as well as culturally specific, responsive, and linguistically accessible service providers.
Over the last 25 years of working in behavioral health Heather has been privileged to sit in a variety of seats. She has provided direct services as a master’s level clinician. She has also served as a program director, an executive and a board chair.
She has developed, implemented and operated programing within government behavioral health clinics, non-profit clinic settings and criminal justice programs. In these roles she has typically served individuals involved in multiple systems , who frequently have co-occurring concerns. She intimately understands Oregon systems that support individuals on their path to whole person and family health.