Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumnus David T. Jones is changing lives by putting his education in clinical child and school psychology to important use as commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) in Philadelphia.
Jones earned a bachelor’s in psychology in 1987, and a master’s in clinical child and school psychology in 1993, both from SIUE. In his current role as commissioner, he oversees the $1 billion healthcare agency and its nearly 800 employees. Jones manages the city’s mental health services, addiction treatments, and disability services for adults and children.
“I work with vulnerable populations—people who are really doing the best that they can—and help link those individuals to behavioral health treatment, and other systems and supports,” Jones said. “I’m a person of faith, and I’m able to connect my faith and spiritual beliefs to my career work. It’s phenomenal.”
The DBHIDS emphasizes Jones’ national experience in “developing multi-disciplinary coalitions to affect sustainable community-level change.” As commissioner, Jones is a respected leader involved in key initiatives such as the City of Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Crisis.
He credits the SIUE School of Education, Health and Human Behavior’s comprehensive clinical child and school psychology master’s program with giving him a competitive advantage among his peers.
“In addition to understanding what the individual clinical presentations would be and the challenges associated with each, the program gave me a strong sense of the life domains in which people and families operate. That really gave me a leg up.”
“Commissioner David T. Jones is an amazing example of a program alumnus making an enormous positive impact on thousands of lives every year in the City of Philadelphia,” said Jeremy Jewell, PhD, clinical child and school psychology program director, “We are proud to have a program that trains leaders in the field like David.”
For more information on SIUE’s clinical child and school psychology master’s program, visit siue.edu/psychology/graduate/clinical-child-psychology.
Photo: SIUE alumnus David T. Jones.