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Marie Williams, LCSW

Commissioner
Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
Nashville, Tennessee

Marie Williams, LCSW, was reappointed Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) by Governor Bill Lee on January 19, 2019. Ms. Williams was initially appointed to the position by Gov. Bill Haslam, effective October 22, 2016. She is the longest-serving Commissioner in the department’s 70+ year history.
As Commissioner, Ms. Williams oversees and leads the department in its role as the state’s public mental health and substance abuse authority with an annual budget of about $642 million. She provides leadership and oversight to more than 1,850 full-time positions that assist individuals to secure treatment and recovery services for serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbances, and substance use disorders. In all, the department serves approximately 750,000 Tennesseans annually. In her time as Commissioner, Ms. Williams has served as a leader in addressing several essential issues facing Tennessee including behavioral health workforce challenges, mental health struggles of youth and young adults, the opioid crisis, criminal justice reform, leveraging the abilities and resources of the faith-based community, and expanding peer-led services, but her career in behavioral health services has been marked by a special passion for housing with a legacy of establishing the Creating Homes Initiative which has leveraged more than $1.4 billion to create more than 37,000 housing opportunities.
Commissioner Williams is a proud graduate of the University of Tennessee Knoxville (Master of Social Work), Austin Peay State University (Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and Dyersburg State Community College. She is the recipient of numerous professional and community awards from national and state groups including the Excellence in Advocacy Individual Achievement Award from the National Council for Behavioral Health, the George Goodman and Ruth P. Brudney National Social Work Award from Mental Health America, the Alumni Professional Achievement Award from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and the Senator Douglas Henry Award for Service to Children and Families at Risk from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work. Ms. Williams lives in Nashville, and she is the mother of Nikki Williams.

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