Suzanne Fields

Suzanne Fields, MSW, LICSW, is the Senior Advisor to the Administrator on Health Care Financing for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Ms. Fields joined as Senior Advisor in August of 2012, and serves as SAMHSA’s lead for Health Reform and works on other critical issues with other Federal agencies on health financing and related activities. Her work has spanned multiple settings including Medicaid, mental health and substance use, children’s services, child welfare, and managed care.

Prior to joining SAMHSA, Ms. Fields worked for the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC), a national nonprofit consulting firm. In that role, she assisted over 20 states in numerous reform efforts, dissemination of best practices, financing, system design and delivery, and quality initiatives; and she also consulted with numerous national advocacy and trade associations.

Prior to joining TAC, Ms. Fields was director of the Office of Behavioral Health for Massachusetts Medicaid.. Additionally, Ms. Fields was responsible for the service design and implementation of best practice services for children and youth under the Rosie D. lawsuit, a landmark class action EPSDT lawsuit. As such, she has a deep understanding of how to utilize Medicaid to promote change in mental health and substance use systems. She is also the former director of a behavioral health managed care organization and served as the city of Boston’s first director of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health.