Jeffrey Vanderploeg, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, has been appointed President and CEO of the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut.
Vanderploeg joined CHDI in 2009, most recently serving as Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives where he was instrumental in developing the state’s children’s mental health plan and oversaw initiatives to improve access to high quality, trauma-informed, evidence-based mental health care for children.
“I am honored to continue CHDI’s tradition of applying innovative approaches at the system, policy, and practice levels to improve children’s health," Vanderploeg said. "In collaboration with our partners, CHDI will continue to be a leader in improving child-serving systems, promoting health, and achieving optimal outcomes for children and their families. I look forward to working collaboratively with policymakers, academic partners, providers, and community and family leaders to achieve these goals.”
At Yale, Vanderploeg was a Predoctoral Fellow in 2004 and 2005, and a National Institute on Drug Abuse Postdoctoral Fellow from 2005-2007. He was an Associate Research Scientist from 2007-2009. All of his appointments at Yale were at The Consultation Center.
At CHDI, he began as a Program Associate before being promoted to Associate Director of Mental Health in 2011, and Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives in 2014. In that role, he has overseen a wide range of initiatives including evidence-based practice dissemination, school-based mental health, trauma-informed care, and statewide system development and integration
I am honored to continue CHDI’s tradition of applying innovative approaches at the system, policy, and practice levels to improve children’s health.
Jeffrey Vanderploeg, PhD, President and CEO, Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut
He was the lead author of the Connecticut Children’s Behavioral Health Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for addressing the behavioral health needs of youth. Since the Plan was presented to the General Assembly in October 2014, it has remained a significant guiding framework for system development and integration across health, behavioral health, juvenile justice, education, and other child-serving systems.
He serves on the Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board; co-chairs the Quality, Access and Policy Subcommittee of the CT Behavioral Health Partnership; and is a member of several other committees and councils in children’s behavioral health policy development. He was also the co-developer of Connecticut’s successful School-Based Diversion Initiative model, and was instrumental in creating a quality improvement system for the state’s mobile crisis and care coordination services.