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Knaebe leaving Heritage for state mental health post

Herald & Review (Decatur, IL) - 8/29/2015

Aug. 29--DECATUR -- Illinois ranks in the bottom quarter of all states when it comes to spending on mental health services for its citizens.

Diana Knaebe, president and CEO of Heritage Behavioral Health Center for the past 13 years, hopes to improve on that after she becomes director of the Division of Mental Health under the Illinois Department of Human Services on Sept. 9.

"This is obviously a passion of mine after staying in the provider world for 29 years," Knaebe said. "I'd like to try to make some differences at the state level."

Candace Clevenger, the agency's chief financial officer, will take over as president/CEO on Sept. 14.

Human Services Secretary James Dimas praised Knaebe's lifelong dedication to improving lives, deep understanding of behavioral health systems and her commitment to integrated care in an email announcing the appointment to his staff.

Born in Tuscola, Knaebe grew up in Kalamazoo, Mich., where she earned a master's degree in social work from Western Michigan University in 1986.

In 1993, Knaebe followed former Heritage CEO Grady Wilkinson to Decatur from Van Buren County Mental Health Services in Paw Paw, Mich., and was vice president of client services and chief operating officer in 2002 when she was promoted to Wilkinson's position after he left to take another job back in Michigan.

Her accomplishments at Heritage include helping to create supportive housing and more recently transitional housing for people with mental illnesses after the closure of the former Adolf Meyer Mental Health Center in Decatur in 1995.

She also raised the agency's public profile through monthly Seeds of Hope forums over the past decade, helped start Macon County Mental Health Court in 2010 and four years ago instituted a wellness program to help clients improve their physical health.

A native of Huntington, W.Va., Clevenger earned a master's of business administration from James Madison University in Harrisburg, Va., and has worked at Heritage Behavioral Health Center for 25 years.

"I would like to continue to improve the quality and integration (with health care) of mental health care," Clevenger said.

She's also looking forward to being back in the Decatur School District through a pilot project to provide mental health "first aid" as a result of school shootings across the nation.

Funding for the $1.9 million Project AWARE at three school districts in Illinois is coming to Decatur through the state Board of Education from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

tchurchill@herald-review.com|(217) 421-7978

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