Dr. Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon is currently Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). She previously served as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and served in this role for six years. Prior positions held at DMHAS include Deputy Commissioner, Senior Policy Advisor and Director of the department’s Office of Multicultural Healthcare Equity. In her role as Commissioner, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon was committed to promoting recovery oriented, integrated, and culturally responsive services and systems that foster dignity, respect, and meaningful community inclusion.
In addition, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon served on faculty in Yale Department of Psychiatry for 20 years, most recently as Adjunct Associate Professor and previously as Assistant Professor, Assistant Clinical Professor, and Instructor. While at Yale Dr. Delphin-Rittmon also served as the Director of Cultural Competence and Health Disparities Research and Consultation with the Yale University Program for Recovery and Community Health.
In May 2014, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon completed a two-year White House appointment working as a Senior Advisor to the Administrator of SAMHSA with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While at SAMHSA, she worked on a range of policy initiatives addressing behavioral health equity, workforce development, and healthcare reform.
Through her 23-year career in the behavioral health field, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon has extensive experience in the design, evaluation, and administration of mental health, substance use, and prevention services and systems and has received several awards for advancing policy in these areas. Most recently, she received the 2023 Human Values Award from the Art of Living Foundation, the 2023 American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Children’s Mental Health Champion Award, the 2022 Distinguished Public Service in Psychology Award, from the National Register of Health Service Psychology and The Trust, Washington, DC, and the 2019 State Service Award from the National Association of State Drug and Alcohol Directors.
Dr. Delphin-Rittmon received her B.A. in Social Science from Hofstra University in 1989, her M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Purdue University 1992 and 2001, respectively, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical community psychology at Yale University in 2002.