Suzanne M. Andriukaitis, LCSW

  Past Board Member, CIT International

Suzanne Andriukaitis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and holds a Master's degree from the      University of Chicago. She joined the staff of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute (ISPI) as a Social Worker  in 1971 and served as the Coordinator of ISPI’s Social Services Department from 1979 to 1981, the  Administrator for ISPS’s Central Research Program from 1982 to 1990, and established and directed ISPI's  federally mandated Office of Research Administration from 1982 to 1984. In January 1990, Ms.  Andriukaitis was named the first Executive Director of the Chicago Consortium for Psychiatric Research,  an organization funded by a State of Illinois grant and formed by the departments of psychiatry of the seven medical universities in the Chicago area to enhance psychiatric research at their institutions. By 1994, the research dollars to this consortium had tripled and that organization was disbanded.

In April of 1994, Ms. Andriukaitis assumed the position of Executive Director of The Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Greater Chicago, now known as NAMI Chicago, and served in this role for 20 years building and growing the services and programs of NAMI Chicago. In 2011, the State of Illinois Department of Mental Health selected Ms. Andriukaitis and NAMI Chicago to deliver the Outreach portion of the Williams Consent Decree which more than tripled the staff and the income of NAMI Chicago. This Consent Decree was designed to transfer the 4,500 residents of Institutes for the Mentally Diseased (IMDs) to community living.

Ms. Andriukaitis has published and lectured extensively to professionals and paraprofessionals in the area of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. From 1980 through 1996, Ms. Andriukaitis provided one day seminars on the then new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III at all State of Illinois inpatient facilities statewide and numerous private and public agencies in the Chicago area. She served as a mentor for more than 50 graduate and undergraduate level students pursuing professional degrees as well as lectured at Loyola University, the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, The Chicago School of Psychology, and the Adler Institute of Psychology, and presenting at Grand Rounds at the University of Illinois, Rush University, and Loyola Medical School.

Ms. Andriukaitis was a member of the team that in 2002 developed and presented a 4-hour mental health education program for all new recruits at the Chicago Police Academy. In 2004 she helped to develop the curriculum for the 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for experienced Chicago police officers and, in 2008, helped to develop the Advanced 40-hour Juvenile CIT training for officers who had completed the Basic CIT course. She presented on the signs and symptoms of mental disorders at all Chicago Police Department’s CIT trainings until 2014.

As a member of the board of directors of CIT International beginning in 2008, she has been active on numerous committees and is currently assisting with the development of the CIT International Convention in Chicago in April of 2016. She is also currently co-chairing the development of the CIT Coordinator Certification Course which will be delivered for the first time at the April 2016 CIT International Convention.