Louise K. Johnson, MS, serves as a Senior Behavioral Health Advisor at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and as an NTTAC Technical Assistance Lead. She brings more than 40 years of experience in the mental health field, with a strong focus on advancing coordinated systems of care for children, youth, and families. Louise played a central role in developing and implementing South Carolina’s vision for a coordinated system of care and is the founder of the state’s Joint Council on Children and Adolescents, established to advance this work. She served as South Carolina’s Children’s Director for more than 30 years, during which she also contributed to national technical assistance efforts supporting states in building community-based systems of care (SOC). Her experience spans multiple child- and family-serving systems, including child welfare, juvenile justice, substance use services, intellectual and developmental disabilities, Medicaid, and education systems. Louise has also held numerous Governor-appointed roles, including service on the State Interagency Coordinating Council, Birth Outcomes Committee, Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, Child Welfare Advisory Committee, Child Fatality Review Committee, and Child Human Trafficking Committee. Louise has served as both Project Director and Principal Investigator for numerous Children’s Mental Health Initiative grants awarded to the state. Her leadership includes securing and overseeing three Healthy Transitions agreements and three comprehensive SOC awards—one of which supported the development of the state’s first crisis center for children and families—as well as additional initiatives funded through philanthropic organizations to expand and sustain SOC efforts. She also served as Principal Investigator for South Carolina’s Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention initiative. At the national level, Louise has served multiple terms as Chair of NASMHPD’s Children, Youth, and Families Council, providing leadership, technical assistance, and support to states. Her subject matter expertise includes: 1) SOC Infrastructure, 2) Crisis Services Systems for Children, Adolescents and Their Families, 3) Service Needs in Rural Communities, 4) Integrated care, 5) Services for Young Adults.