Eureka Therapist To Head Mental Health Oversight

Mayberg swears in Sheri Whitt to implement Prop. 63

Humboldt Sentinel

News 6/7/08

By Sentinel Staff

SACRAMENTO – A Eureka-based therapist has been tapped by the state to head up the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

Last week, Stephen Mayberg, the state mental health director, swore into office Sheri Whitt as Executive Director of the commission, which is charged with implementing voter-approved Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act. Whitt had already been serving in the position on an interim basis for the last year.

“I am so pleased to accept this position,” she said in a release. “This work comes from my heart and I am very dedicated to support this commission’s work in implementing the Mental Health Services Act.”

Whitt boasts of a quarter century’s worth of experience working with non-profits, local and state governments and specifically with mental health counseling for Native American communities.

The MHSA funds programs to serve people in need of mental health services through grants to the counties, as well as directly serve clients through programs for prevention and early intervention as well as housing for the mentally ill. It is funded by a one percent income tax on those who earn more than $1 million a year.

Linford Gayle, chair of the commission, applauded Whitt’s selection, specifically the growth in the number of commission staffers from three to 19 during her interim administration.

“I am so pleased that we have got this finalized,” Gayle said in a release. “Sheri Whitt has the compassion, vision and executive skills to take the commission’s work to the highest level.”