Experience
Kiley Wilkens-O’Brien demonstrates a profound commitment to enhancing community behavioral health services. A seasoned social worker turned professional policy analyst, Kiley focuses on policy development, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement. Her work advances mental health initiatives both locally and nationally. Kiley is a catalyst for change. She continually demonstrates aptitude in system-level thinking, a firm grasp of regulatory landscapes, and a first-hand understanding of the importance of high-fidelity implementation of evidence-based and promising practices.
Kiley is a driving force behind reshaping the behavioral health landscape in Maine. She is a strong advocate for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) no-wrong-door model, laying the groundwork for the successful integration of CCBHCs into the state’s mental health landscape. Kiley is adept at crafting compelling narratives and presenting complex models to diverse stakeholder groups. Her confidence facilitating large town-hall style meetings and her unique ability to create safe spaces for dialogue and discourse have been essential in garnering public support for the CCBHC framework. In addition to CCBHC planning and implementation, Kiley has become a nationally recognized voice in the crisis intervention and suicide prevention spaces. She facilitates collaborative efforts between urban, rural, and tribal behavioral health providers, law enforcement, hospital staff, and state policy staff, to reform current carceral responses to crisis events which disproportionately impact historically marginalized communities.
Under Kiley’s leadership, the state of Maine launched its first crisis receiving center, and she is currently overseeing a Children’s Crisis Urgent Care pilot. During her tenure at the state Medicaid agency, MaineCare, Kiley utilized her prowess in grant writing and strategic project management, securing a competitive CMS Community-Based Mobile Crisis Intervention Services Planning Grant. During the two-year grant period, Kiley oversaw policy development, rate setting, licensing/certification reform, and curriculum development efforts, underscoring her comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of Medicaid-funded behavioral health care. Her expertise in crisis programming has been instrumental in promoting data-driven decision-making. This is documented in the 2023 publication, Envisioning an Integrated Crisis Data System in Maine: Data-Informed DecisionMaking for Maine’s Behavioral Health Crisis System (Hernandez et al.) She continues her mission to break down silos of information and educate government personnel in public safety, corrections, education, labor, and economics regarding the critical intersection of crisis services within the broader public health continuum. Kiley’s steadfast commitment to excellence is fueled by over a decade of providing direct care in the highest acuity mental health settings. Her proven ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes while remaining rooted in her lived wisdom make her a valuable asset to any state’s behavioral health agenda.