Valerie Naquin, owner of Behavioral Health Innovations, has worked in the behavioral health field for over 30 years. Her experience includes serving six years as Vice President of Development for an Alaska Native corporation. For the past 15 years, she has operated an independent consultant firm bringing her wealth of experience to behavioral health providers.
Ms. Naquin is an exceptional and accomplished grant writer who has secured over $250 million in grant funding; predominantly through federal grant programs. She has had multiple grant proposals score first in the nation and others within the top five. She is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) grant proposals.
Valerie has developed and operated both substance abuse and mental health programs with annual operating budgets of over $10 million. She and her staff received nine citations for Exemplary Practice from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accreditation agency. Ms. Naquin has developed two Best Practice and one Evidence-Based behavioral health program. She was appointed to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute Board and the Mental Health Board by the Governor of Alaska. She received the Francis J. Phillips award in 2004 for her contribution to the behavioral health field in Alaska. Ms. Naquin has extensive experience in improving cultural competence. She previously served on the Indigenous Voices in Social Work Journal at the University of Hawaii and currently serves on the Editorial Board for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research Journal for the University of Colorado.
BHI was developed to respond to behavioral health needs and to provide technical assistance, grant writing, mental health insights, and training. Innovation frames the experience and products developed by Ms. Naquin.
Experience has taught her that if a practice, process, or project is not working, doing the same thing harder only produces the same results. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~Unknown
Valerie is both a national and international speaker, presenting behavioral health programs not only in the United States but Greece, Belgium, Scotland, New Zealand and Ireland.
Drawing from the wisdom of others, Ms. Naquin believes there is no problem too difficult or entrenched to solve. Her solutions, however, often require moving out of a comfort zone, exploring new options, and learning to rethink issues. Innovation requires being open to new ideas and becoming a life-long learner.
"
"
"
