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Charles Curie

Principal & Founder, Principal, The Curie Group, LLC Former SAMHSA Administrator

Charles G. Curie is the principal and founder of The Curie Group, LLC, a management and consulting firm specializing in working with national and international leaders in public and private healthcare, particularly mental health (MH) services and substance use (SU) treatment and prevention arenas, to facilitate the transformation of services and to attain increasingly positive outcomes in the lives of people worldwide. Accelerating the transformation of the delivery of healthcare services through the use of innovative technologies has been an evolving focus during recent years. Synthesizing and bundling mobile, web-based and digital technologies to establish new interventions that increase efficient access to quality behavioral healthcare, improve documentation of services and arrive at measurable health outcomes has been central to the transformation strategy.

Curie has over 30 years of professional experience in the MH and SU services fields and has authored and co-authored articles on various topics related to the field, including co-occurring disorders and the reduction and elimination of seclusion and restraint practices.

In 2001, Curie was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to head the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As SAMHSA Administrator, Curie led the $3.4 billion agency responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the Nation’s SU treatment and prevention and MH services.

Articulating the vision of “a life in the community for everyone”, Curie charted a new course for SAMHSA. To realize this vision, Curie redefined SAMHSA’s mission as “building resilience and facilitating recovery” and created an agency matrix of priorities and principles to guide program development and resource allocation. SAMHSA’s new direction was based on the premise that people of all ages, with or at risk for mental or substance abuse disorders should have the opportunity for a fulfilling life that includes a job, a home, and meaningful personal relationships with friends and family.  Accomplishments during his tenure from 2001 to 2006 included, helping establish and manage The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health; implementing a Strategic Prevention Framework for substance use prevention; developing and implementing Access to Recovery which gave clients choices for substance use treatment; defining domains for National Outcome Measures for mental health and substance use services; and working internationally with post-conflict and war-torn countries to establish their MH and SU service systems, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Curie holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and a Bachelor of Arts from Huntington University. Curie is certified by the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) and currently serves on a number of board of directors, including Core Solutions, a provider of Electronic Health Records, the Responsible Retailing Forum, Inc. (RRF), the Woodley House and the National Advisory Board of the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility.

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