Joy Meiner

Director of Residential & Community Programs, Center for Hope

Joy’s knowledge and understanding of the behavioral health field has been shaped by a variety of experiences within Maricopa County. As a native to Arizona, Joy started her career in behavioral health in 1986 when she worked as a BHT at Desert Vista Hospital. From there Joy accepted employment at Phoenix South Community Mental Health Services, which is now Southwest Behavioral Health. While at PSCMHS, Joy drove a four wheel drive in the deserts of Maricopa County offering mental health and substance abuse services to homeless individuals. At the time, this was the first Psychiatric Homeless Outreach Program in Phoenix working with treatment resistant individuals. In 1991, Joy accepted employment as a counselor working in the Psychiatric Unit at Madison and Durango jails in Maricopa County. After 3 years in this position, Joy found she missed working with the homeless population and took employment with Maricopa County Public Health Homeless Outreach.

Joy’s experience working with individuals with co-occurring disorders has also included the Families FIRST program at TERROS, Maverick House, Safe Haven and First New Life House. While at TERROS, Joy helped develop the curriculum for their substance abuse education program.

Joy joined the Center for Hope team in April of 2005, only 4 months after we opened our doors. Joy was hired as Cottage Leader and was responsible to oversee service delivery for the women and children assigned to her caseload. The Cottage Leader positions at CFH carried a great deal of responsibility. This position required that Joy not only oversee Best Practice service delivery to her caseload, but also ensure that the entire clinical team at CFH remained consistent with the program model and did not revert to the “old ways” of providing Substance Abuse Services. In order to do this Joy needed to remain consistent in her approach and not waiver in the face of resistance to a “new way” of doing things.

In August of 2008, Joy accepted a promotion to Director of Residential and Community Programming at Center for Hope. In this role Joy, will continue to oversee best practice implementation within our residential program but also oversee all collaborative relationships with various service providers involved with the Center for Hope families.

Joy’s educational background involves a Bachelors degree in Anthropology from ASU. She additionally has a Master’s degree in Adult Education and a Master’s degree in Human Resources with Advanced Graduate Studies in Substance Abuse Counseling. She is a Licensed Associate Substance Abuse Counselor in the state of Arizona working toward Independent Licensure.