Christopher Betts appointed as executive director of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Pennsylvania - Adult Services

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Executive Director Stephen Bruce to be promoted to operating vice president

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Christopher Betts, M.A.

Christopher Betts, M.A.

Stephen Bruce, M.Ed., BCBA

Villanova, PA – June 11, 2018 – Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit providers of behavioral healthcare in the nation, today announced that President and CEO Carl E. Clark II has selected Christopher Betts, M.A., as Devereux Pennsylvania – Adult Services’ incoming executive director.

Betts currently serves as assistant executive director of Devereux Pennsylvania – Adult Services, located in Berwyn, Pa. He will assume the executive director position on July 1, 2018, and will oversee the care and treatment of nearly 400 adults served by the center’s day habilitation and employment programs, and residences throughout southeast Pennsylvania.

Betts succeeds Stephen Bruce, M.Ed., BCBA, who, as part of a larger organizational redesign effort, will be promoted to the position of operations vice president of adult services, effective July 1, 2018. In this new role, Bruce will manage Devereux’s adult population throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

“Chris has been part of the Devereux family for 18 years, and has worked directly with our adult population in Pennsylvania since 2010. His knowledge, expertise and ability to foster long-term partnerships within the community make him an outstanding choice to lead our Adult Services center,” noted Clark. “As we promote Chris and Steve into these roles, Devereux will be perfectly positioned to help unlock and nurture human potential in the adults we serve who are living with emotional, behavioral and cognitive differences.”

About Christopher Betts, M.A.

Christopher Betts, M.A., holds more than 20 years of behavioral healthcare experience. He joined Devereux Pennsylvania in 2000 as a residential counselor at the organization’s Children’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services (CIDDS) center; he was promoted to lead counselor in 2001. In 2002, he became program coordinator and, that same year, was promoted to treatment manager. In 2010, he began working at Devereux Pennsylvania’s Adult Services center as a program director. Later, he became program administrator and, in 2016, was promoted into his current role as assistant executive director.

Prior to Devereux, Betts held behavioral health positions in the United Kingdom, including youth worker positions at the Somerset County Youth Service and the Somerset Rural Youth Project. He holds a Professional Diploma in Youth/Community Work and a Bachelor of Arts (with Honors) in Youth and Community Work from the University College of St. Mark and St. John (Exeter University, UK). In addition, he holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Immaculata University. As of July 1, 2018, Betts will serve as a board member of the South Eastern Pennsylvania provider organization Moving Agencies Toward Excellence (MAX).

About Stephen Bruce, M.Ed., BCBA

Stephen Bruce, M.Ed., BCBA, currently serves as the executive director of Devereux Pennsylvania’s Adult Services center. Effective July 1, 2018, Bruce will be promoted to the position of operations vice president of adult services, where he will have oversight for this population in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Bruce brings more than 30 years of nonprofit leadership and behavioral healthcare experience to his role. Before joining Devereux in 2015, he was president and CEO of Midland, a provider of educational, residential and day services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in New Jersey. Prior to that, he served a significant part of his career at Bancroft, a nonprofit provider of services for individuals with brain injuries, autism and intellectual disabilities. During his 25-year tenure at Bancroft, Bruce held early roles such as director of pediatric and adolescent services, and more recent positions including: vice president of planning/marketing/admissions, vice president of clinical operations, and vice president of strategic planning. Bruce holds a Master in Special Education, with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis, from Temple University. In addition, he is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has served as an adjunct professor at Temple University, where he has taught courses in Applied Behavior Analysis.

About Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health

Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations providing services, insight and leadership in the evolving field of behavioral healthcare. Founded in 1912 by special education pioneer Helena Devereux, the organization operates a comprehensive national network of clinical, therapeutic, educational, and employment programs and services that positively impact the lives of tens of thousands of children, adults – and their families – every year. Focused on clinical advances emerging from a new understanding of the brain, its unique approach combines evidence-based interventions with compassionate family engagement.

With approximately 7,500 employees working in programs across the nation, Devereux is a recognized partner for families, schools and communities, serving many of our country’s most vulnerable populations in the areas of autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, specialty mental health, and child welfare. Programs are offered in hospital, residential, community and school-based settings. They include: assessments; interventions and support; transition and independent life services; family and professional training; research and innovation; and advocacy and public education. For more than a century, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health has been guided by a simple and enduring mission: To change lives by unlocking and nurturing human potential for people living with emotional, behavioral or cognitive differences. www.devereux.org

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