Yvonne Perret, MSW
Executive Director of the Advocacy and Training Center in Cumberland, MD
Senior Consultant at Policy Research Associates in Delmar, NY
Ms. Perret focuses in the area of public benefits, mental health services, and co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse. She is a psychiatric social worker and the former Program Director of the SSI Outreach Project in the Community Psychiatry Division of the University of Maryland Medical System. This innovative program assists adults who are homeless with serious and persistent mental illness to access SSI, other benefits, and services. This program was named a "Best Practice Program" by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (2001), and a "Best Practice" by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2005). She is past vice-president of the Adult Services and Prevention Committee of Mental Health America, active in her state in mental health and homelessness advocacy, and the recipient of several awards for advocacy and social work. Ms. Perret has authored numerous articles, she is the co-author of Children with Disabilities: A Medical Primer, currently in its 4th edition, and she is the primary author and developer with staff from PRA for SAMHSA's Stepping Stones to Recovery training curriculum.