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Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health appoints Yolanda Graham, M.D., as senior vice president chief clinical/chief medical officer

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Industry trailblazer, Marilyn Benoit, M.D., to pursue next phase of her distinguished,
four-decade career as a child and adolescent psychiatrist
  

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Yolanda P. Graham, M.D.

Yolanda P. Graham, M.D.
  

Marilyn Benoit, M.D., SHSA

Villanova, PA – May 8, 2018 – Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit providers of behavioral healthcare in the nation, announced today that Devereux President and CEO Carl E. Clark, II has appointed Yolanda Graham, M.D., to the position of senior vice president chief clinical/chief medical officer. Dr. Graham, the organization’s current executive director of mental health services, will assume this role on July 1, 2018. 

Dr. Graham succeeds Marilyn Benoit, M.D., SHSA, who announced in March that she will leave the organization, following 25 years of outstanding service to Devereux, and a more than 40-year career breaking new ground and improving systems of care in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Benoit plans to devote her time focusing on the prevention of child maltreatment, along with consulting and writing about mental health concerns.  

As Senior Vice President Chief Clinical/Chief Medical Officer, Graham will be responsible for overseeing Devereux’s clinical strategies, treatment and outcomes. Specifically, she will work to integrate the latest scientific and medical advancements with time-tested philosophies and compassionate family engagement to provide practical, effective and efficient care for the tens of thousands of children, adolescents and adults served by the organization every year.

“We are thrilled to name Dr. Graham – an unwavering advocate for individuals and families living with behavioral health differences – to this important post,” said Clark. “I look forward to working with Dr. Graham to further elevate our clinical programs by continuing to enhance the safety of the individuals and employees in our care, achieving organization-wide clinical and programmatic consistency, and building successful integrated healthcare models for the diverse populations we serve.” 

Clark continued, “It was a very daunting task to find an expert capable of stepping into the shoes of Dr. Marilyn Benoit, who has done so much to advance our field over more than four decades. For the last quarter century, she has been a driving force behind our work to support our individuals in not only finding their unique gifts and strengths, but in becoming productive, positive and socially-connected members of their communities. I want to thank Dr. Benoit for her clinical expertise, leadership and vision. I wish her the very best as she pursues this next phase of her long and distinguished career.” 

Dr. Graham – who is widely recognized across the nation as a leading expert in the treatment of sexually exploited children – also will help expand Devereux’s Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) program, which she developed in 2012. The organization’s CSEC program is available in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas; Massachusetts will open a program by year-end. Devereux also began providing these services for adult women in 2017, treating nearly 50 women in its Florida-based program. 

“I am excited and honored to help advance Devereux’s mission in this new role,” said Dr. Graham of her appointment. “Partnering with our clinical teams across the country, we will focus our efforts on providing consistently high quality to our individuals and families, along with a more holistic approach to behavioral health – ensuring whole-person health and helping end the stigma facing people with emotional, behavioral and cognitive differences.” 

About Yolanda P. Graham, M.D.

Yolanda Graham, M.D., is Board certified in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and is an expert in the areas of: mental health, child advocacy, psychotropic medication management, behavioral management, and childhood sexual exploitation and trauma. 

Dr. Graham joined Devereux in 2011 as the medical director of Devereux Georgia and, in 2016, was promoted to her most recent position of executive director of mental health services at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. Graham – who is widely recognized across the nation as a leading expert in the treatment of sexually exploited children – developed and launched Devereux’s Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) program in 2012.  

Prior to Devereux, Graham was the medical director at Youth Villages, Inner Harbour campus, in Douglasville, Ga. She also served as a consultant for STRIVE, LLC, where she helped to develop a clinical curriculum for commercially sexually exploited children. In addition, she worked as a clinical psychiatrist for organizations including Positive Impact, the Fulton County Metro Youth Detention Center and DeKalb County Community Service Board, among others. Graham lectures nationally – and has been published widely – on issues related to child/adolescent behavioral health and the commercial exploitation of children. She is an adjunct associate professor at Emory University and an adjunct assistant clinical professor at Morehouse School of Medicine. Graham earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Doctor of Medicine from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She completed her residency and two fellowships at Emory University. She serves on the following boards: Georgia Psychiatric Physician’s Association (president); Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, Georgia’s Drug Utilization Review Board, Shared Hope International and Wellcare’s Behavioral Health Advisory Board. In addition, Graham is the past president of the Georgia Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 

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, it 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 foster care. 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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