Dr. Tison Thomas is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and a behavioral health leader with more than 30 years of experience advancing mental health policy, system transformation, and service delivery across federal, state, and local levels. He serves as Director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), where he provides executive leadership for federal mental health policy, programs, and investments supporting states, territories, tribes, and communities nationwide. His leadership focuses on strengthening community mental health systems, expanding access to evidence-based services, modernizing crisis care, and improving outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness, children and youth with serious emotional disturbance, and people with co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions.
Prior to his appointment as Director, Dr. Thomas served as Acting Director and Deputy Director of CMHS, overseeing the Center’s operations, workforce, and multibillion-dollar portfolio of grants and contracts. Earlier, as Director of CMHS’s Division of State and Community Systems Development, he led major federal mental health programs, including the Mental Health Services Block Grant, Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), and the Community Mental Health Centers grant program. He also directed national efforts to expand early intervention for psychosis, supporting more than 400 Coordinated Specialty Care programs nationwide, and strengthened federal partnerships and data systems addressing serious mental illness and homelessness. Before joining SAMHSA, Dr. Thomas held senior state leadership positions directing large-scale behavioral health system transformation initiatives focused on integrated care, evidence-based practices, and accountability.
Dr. Thomas began his career in clinical practice across inpatient and emergency psychiatry, crisis services, managed care, and community mental health, serving adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance, including individuals experiencing homelessness. This practitioner experience continues to inform his approach to national mental health policy and executive leadership. Dr. Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in social work, and a Ph.D. in social work policy and practice, and he is a licensed clinical social worker. He brings a disciplined, practitioner-informed approach to federal leadership centered on strengthening systems, improving outcomes, fostering effective federal–state partnerships, and ensuring that federal mental health investments deliver measurable impact for individuals, families, and communities nationwide.