Paul Dupre, M.Th.
Professional Affiliations
Paul is the executive director of Washington County
Mental Health Services, Inc. a comprehensive community mental
health center in Montpelier, Vermont. Paul is also a former City
Councilor and Mayor of Barre, Vermont the sister-city of Montpelier. He is a
board member of the Vermont Association for Mental Health,
the Vermont Council of Developmental and Mental Health Services, the
Vermont Behavioral Health Network and the Laraway School.
He is on the advisory board of the Commissioner of
Mental Health’s Transformational Council and the
Vermont State Hospital.
NARMH Positions and Projects
Paul was elected to the NARMH board this year, for his
third term. He is the treasurer and is also facilitating
the NARMH legislative agenda. Paul looks forward
to working closely with President Rick Peterson on the many
challenging issues facing rural mental health consumers,
families and providers.
Rural Mental Health Involvement and Contributions
Paul’s employment with WCMHS began in 1978. He assisted in
the start up of one of Vermont’s first group homes for
patients from the Vermont State Hospital who
required a therapeutic residence in order to come back to the
community. From there, he helped develop housing in
partnership with the local land trust, HUD and other
community resources. These housing and service options have
been instrumental in keeping WCMHS average usage of State Hospital beds
at less then five per day. Paul worked closely with the former executive
director, consumers, families, advocates and staff in developing and
implementing a recovery philosophy in community
settings. As a current member and former chair of the
legislative committee for the Vermont Council of
Developmental and
Mental Health
Services, he is
active in the
legislative process
and works with
consumers, families,
advocates and staff
in advocating
directly with their
elected
representatives.
