A Father’s Journey: When Your Child Has Bipolar Disorder

Mental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System

This week Elizabeth Kelley talks with her guest, Senator Creigh Deeds. The two discuss the many initiatives he’s championed to relieve some of the flaws in the mental health space and the story that inspired him to take action.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What he has done to reform the services delivered to people suffering from serious mental illnesses

• How his son inspired this journey for Sr. Deeds, and shifted his focus to make change in the mental health space

• What challenges his team has found along the way, and how they have worked to overcome them

• What is being done in Virginia to implement better mental health and crisis intervention training in their criminal justice departments

• Advice from one parent to others

Senator Creigh Deeds has represented the 25th District in the Senate of Virginia since 2001, when he won a special election after serving for 10 years in the House of Delegates. Sen. Deeds is the Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee and chairs the Behavioral Health Commission and the Capital Outlay Subcommittee. The National Alliance on Mental Illness honored Sen. Deeds with the Richard T. Greer Advocacy Award for his efforts to reform mental health, and the American Psychological Association Practice Organization named him the 2015 State Legislator of the Year Award. His advocacy work has also been acknowledged by NAMI – Virginia, the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Sen. Deeds attended Virginia’s public schools and graduated from Bath County High School in 1976. After completing undergraduate work at Concord College, he received his law degree from Wake Forest University in 1984. Senator Deeds is a lawyer in private practice, and lives in the City of Charlottesville. He is married to Siobhan Deeds and is the proud father of four children and four grandchildren.

Twitter/X: @CreighDeeds

Website: senatordeeds.com