Jeffrey Vanderploeg, PhD
President and CEO
Jeffrey Vanderploeg, Ph.D. is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CHDI. Vanderploeg received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University, completed Predoctoral and Postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine, and was a research faculty member at Yale before joining CHDI in 2009. At CHDI, he began as a Program Associate before being promoted to Associate Director of Mental Health in 2011, Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives in 2014, and President & CEO in 2017.
During his career at CHDI, Vanderploeg has played a central role in developing effective systems, practices, and policies for the prevention and treatment of mental health conditions among children and adolescents and their families. He was the lead author of the Connecticut Children’s Behavioral Health Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for addressing the behavioral health needs of youth, which has remained a significant guiding framework for state-wide reform. He was also the co-developer of the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) model and was instrumental in the re-design of the state’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Service, including its nationally recognized quality improvement system.
Vanderploeg serves on several committees and councils in the areas of behavioral health and the well-being of young people, including the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council, the Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board, and the Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee. He holds faculty appointments in Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut Health Center School of Medicine.