Vanessa Matthews

Division Director, Inspector (Ret.) - Allrise

Vanessa Matthews, division director for the Treatment Cour Institute (TCI) , a division of ALLRISE. She was employed as a police officer with Oklahoma City from 1990 to 2012, working with the Oklahoma County drug court from May 1998 to September 2009. She was instrumental in the development of the drug court program, including policy manual development, budgeting, and staff training. Her training presentations and curriculum development include recognizing the signs of mental illness, identifying a subject under the influence of drugs, effectively communicating with consumers, strengths-based interviewing, team building, drug testing, program planning and development, grant writing, community supervision, cultural proficiency for consumers served, ethics and confidentiality in treatment programs, psychopharmacology of drugs for first responders, and community resource identification and development. In 2014, Ms. Matthews was appointed by the governor of Oklahoma to serve on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. In 2015 she was reappointed to a four-year term and elected chair of the organization. She joined the staff of NADCP in 2016 to serve as the director of NDCI. Ms. Matthews has an associate degree from Oklahoma State University in applied police science and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in criminal justice. In July 2020, Ms. Matthews was elected to serve as a member of the national NAMI Board of Directors. In May of 2023, Ms. Matthews was selected to serve as part of the IACP Mental Health workgroup.

Sessions