NNews-Sep-2026

12 September 2026 Shelisa Foster Shelisa Foster has served as Chief Operating Officer at Bergen’s Promise, a Care Management Organization, since 2013. She oversees the overall operations that provide unique, community-based services tomore than 1,800 families daily, supporting childrenwith emotional, behavioral, developmental and substance use needs. During her tenure, Bergen’s Promise became the first program inNew Jersey to implement a Pediatric Behavioral HealthHome, utilizingwraparound care coordination. Foster also serves as Vice Chair of the Human Services Advisory Council, which focuses on planning, advocacy, resource allocation and program review to enhance the quality of human services for Bergen County residents. She previously served as a residential program clinician, and she designed service programs. In all her roles, Foster has strived to ensure that families and providers’ voices are heard and incorporated to “ensure our work is relevant and responsive to their needs,” and serving on the NJMHI Board provides additional opportunities for her to contribute to this vital mission. Her experience and perspective as both an operational leader and clinical provider and long-time involvement in New Jersey’s Children’s System of Care (CSOC) will undoubtedly prove to be assets for NJMHI – as well as NJAMHAA since NJMHI’s initiatives benefit providers. Foster has worked closely with families, providers and other community partners, and she is well connected at the state level. “I have a practical understanding of how behavioral health care and the CSOC work, including transitions from the CSOC to the adult and family system. As COO, I oversee putting strategy into action,” she added. “NJMHI has the ability to connect with providers, advocates and community partners around a shared goal of strengthening the systemand increasing access, and it is willing to lead on issues to strengthen the field throughworkforce development, leadership, coaching and training,” Foster said. “NJMHI doesmore than identify barriers; it finds solutions to increase access for underserved communities through cultural competence and other innovative initiatives, as well as having influence on statewide policy discussions, which are all connectedwithNJAMHAA.” “We all have financial pressures and workforce challenges while needing to meet quality expectations,” Foster said, noting value-based payment as an important example. “That perspective helps ensure our initiatives stay grounded in provider agencies and connect to family engagement.” Foster also reinforcedNJMHI’s role in helping providers “embrace the paradigmshift of the integration of physical and behavioral health care and social determinants of health. NJMHI can help shape that future where integrated healthcare providersmake it easier to access care that is better coordinated,” she said. NJMHI Chair and NewBoardMember Reinforce Vision to Strengthen the Workforce, Increase Access to Care continued frompage 1 1 According to Young. “We need to build career paths for peers and remove red tape to licenses for them. These are great solutions for the workforce crisis,” he stressed. “Allowing folks the opportunity to learn and grow in our field is something we need to work on a lot more – opportunities to expand their breadth of knowledge and networks of individuals,” Young added. He noted the loss of many clinicians who chose to provide services solely through telehealth. Young anticipates that NJMHI’s upcoming focus groups will effectively advance efforts to strengthen the behavioral healthcare field. One will concentrate on attracting individuals from the African-American and Latinx communities to the industry, and another aims to develop strategies to encourage individuals in these populations to seek behavioral health care when needed.