Nonprofit Professional of the Year Nominee - Heather DeStefano
Nonprofit work, especially in the mental health field, is less a job and more a calling. Now, the need is greater than ever and Community Partners of South Florida’s Director of Clinical Services Heather DeStefano is dedicated to answering that call and serving the needs of Palm Beach County residents.
Heather leads the Child and Family Mental Health Clinical Services team and serves low-income families with chronic mental health needs throughout Palm Beach County.
Guided by an indefatigable work ethic and tremendous empathy, Heather is a reassuring and dependable resource for both clients and CPSFL staff.
In addition to her responsibilities as Director of Clinical Services, Heather doesn’t skip a beat when the team needs additional support. For example, she didn’t hesitate to step up when our supportive housing facilities, Village 1 and Village 2, needed additional staff to meet high demand. Another example of her leadership was on display when she stepped up, outside of her regular duties, to provide her time and expertise to ensure our Wraparound Case Management staff and clients got the support they needed during a period where we were shorthanded.
Aside from serving clients facing poverty, trauma, abuse, and neglect, Heather is dedicated to supporting new mental health professionals with training and mentoring. To increase the quality of mental health professionals in Palm Beach County, the Child and Family Mental Health team at CPSFL implements The Academy, a training program for therapists and interns. Heather embraces the idea that to move the needle on social resiliency and create a more stable environment for clients, we must continuously train, reinforce, and provide mentorship to new therapists.
Heather supports new therapists and interns earning their licenses to utilize best practices in treating clients experiencing emotional and mental difficulties while supporting therapists on their professional journey. She empowers new mental health professionals to engage in a steady process with the client, to monitor their progress while utilizing their feedback as a driving force of treatment.
Navigating the Child Welfare System, the Legal System, School System, and other community mental health networks are essential to providing the best client care. Heather understands the intricacies of this work and teaches what she knows to other staff in a kind and caring way.
Heather provides administrative and clinical oversight of the outpatient therapy and intake department comprised of 5 supervisors, 30 therapists, 6 interns, and 2 support staff. She has served in numerous roles during her six-year tenure at CPSFL and has honed the ability to be present in the moment while also viewing each client’s unique situation with a macro lens to mitigate issues that may arise in the future. There is no job too small for Heather – she goes where she is needed and serves with clinical expertise and compassion.
Most recently, Heather stepped in to support CPSFL’s Village 1 and Village 2 supportive housing programs by providing clinical expertise and troubleshooting program’s logistics. She is credited with creating much improved policies/procedures and reaching out to partners at The Lord’s Place and South County Mental Health Center to ensure client needs were met. She went beyond her normal duties and served as on-site to provide face-to-face support where it was needed. Heather’s contributions were not only deeply impactful for CPSFL staff but also to the clients and families of the supportive housing program.
Heather’s leadership was instrumental in ensuring that clients continued to receive care during the pandemic. She supported the team and clients as they adapted to numerous unforeseen challenges. Overnight, the program went remote and staff began providing telehealth services. Implementing a this model of care allowed case managers to provide services clients at times that are more convenient for the client, for example, meeting later in the evening or on weekends, when that was not an option before. Heather always considers what is best for the clients and does whatever it takes to ensure every client is provided with the services they need.
Heather fully embraces CPSFL’s approach to community revitalization that integrates housing and financial empowerment, child and family mental health, and community services to support families in developing social, emotional and financial stability. She leverages community assets along with public and private resources to achieve impact and support clients. She works side by side with individuals and families to help them achieve their personal goals. Through her work, she creates advocates and change agents who make their communities better than they thought possible. She inspires her colleagues every day by leading by example and always lending a hand to help or an ear to listen.
Heather is deeply involved in the footprint in Palm Beach County’s health and human services sector and her commitment and passion are evident in not only her resume but in the attitude and mindset she brings with her to work every day.
Before working at CPSFL, Heather served clients experiencing homelessness at The Lord’s Place for 4 years and her work has impacted hundreds (maybe even thousands) of residents who have received mental and behavioral health services in our community.
In addition to her role at CPSFL, she also teaches at Palm Beach State College, serves on the Florida Atlantic University College of Social Work and Criminal Justice Professional Development Advisory Board while raising a family and passionately advocating for social justice and equity.
At PBSC, Heather teaches students in Intro to Human Services (AA), Crisis Intervention, Ethics in Human Services, and Research in Human Services. Heather is a first generation college student who began at a community college. She said, “I know firsthand the impact a professor can have and appreciate the opportunity to support others as they begin their educational journey.” Heather continued, “to impact future human services professionals is a real privilege. The world needs more compassion and more people who are trained to listen, observe, and support.”
Heather’s career and her life’s work is founded upon the bedrock of building a kinder, more empathetic and more supportive world through clinical expertise, innovation, encouragement and profound humanity.
Heather’s leadership has ensured that our therapists are thoroughly trained and given supportive supervision. As a result, they are more equipped to stay in the profession as well as deliver better outcomes; thus, leading to better quality of and access to mental health services for our community.
Her commitment to being data-driven, client-directed, and using a holistic approach to treatment is evidenced by our positive client outcomes and rates of success. Her leadership has undoubtedly played a role in decreasing therapist turnover; the client no-show rate (decreased by 39%); successful discharges (increased to 70%). Child and Family Mental Health program at CPSFL receives a monthly average of 350 referrals, yet has no waitlist, and the number of days between referral and the first appointment has decreased by 36%.
As the Director of Clinical Services, our team counts on Heather for her practical knowledge, experience and leadership.
CPSFL Supervisor of Intake Jaz Brown works closely with Heather and swears that, “Heather is up with the chickens and she just goes. If there were more hours in the day, she would be everywhere! She does intakes, she works with interns, she sees clients and she pitches in at Village 1 or wherever. If there is a need, Heather doesn’t know what else to do but help out.”
Regarding Heather’s impact, Jaz speaks about Village clients who have gone through the program, worked with Heather, found the support and stability they needed, moved on and then come back in a mentorship capacity to show current clients that change, growth and the accomplishment of your goals is a real possibility.
“She is an amazing clinician with the ability to gently guide and inspire,” Jaz says. “Nine months ago, a client was on the street. He comes to the Village; he works with Heather and now he has his own place. He’s settled and comes back to motivate others.”
When clients find stability and move forward, and then come back to the source of their support to help others who are struggling, it is the highest measure of success for a mental health professional. This is a true testament to Heather’s deservedness of this recognition.
Heather DeStefano inspires people – staff and clients – to be the best versions of themselves. She is a visionary who coaches others so they might also see the bigger picture and can make an impact themselves.
Thank you for all you do for our community Heather!
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