Hal Smith, MPS, CCHP
Biographic Profile
Hal Smith is a forensic operations expert having worked for almost four decades exclusively in clinical, administrative and leadership positions with a varied range of adult and juvenile forensic mental health populations in institutional and community settings. During the course of his career he has been involved in all aspects of state and federal forensic litigation: deposition, expert testimony, and development of settlement/stipulation agreements.
Hal Smith is currently an independent forensic consultant and provides expert assistance to a diverse array of mental health and criminal justice agencies, as well as to architectural firms in designing forensic structures and alternatives. His work focuses on innovative treatment programs for special populations, monitoring and assessment of programs and systems efficacy, and evidence based, best practice models.
Hal Smith designed, implemented and operated the New York State Correctional Mental Health System. He developed the “New York Model” which has been replicated by many other states and achieved the distinction of being the first Joint Commission accredited system in the USA. From 1978 to 2005 Hal served as the first Forensic Director for the NYS Office of Mental Health and later as Executive Director/CEO of the Central New York Psychiatric Center (CNYPC) and New York State’s Prison-Based Mental Health System. For this system, in 2005 Hal accepted the Marvin Chapman MD Memorial Award for Excellence in Forensics from the National Association of State Forensic Directors. During his tenure at CNYPC he implemented and managed specialized segregation mental health programs and alternatives, community re-entry initiatives, pre-release transitional units, co-occurring substance abuse disorder programs, and targeted prevention/diversion strategies. Hal also established an ACGME-accredited Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program in affiliation with the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Department of Psychiatry and the Syracuse University College of Law, and attained a faculty appointment as Associate Professor of Administrative Psychiatry.
Until July 2010, Hal Smith was Director of the Forensic Division of MHM Services Inc. He was responsible for MHM’s adult, juvenile and court evaluation forensic contracts in MA, CT, NH, WY, NM and the City of New York. Prior to this position, he served as MHM’s Corporate Consultant for Clinical Operations.
Hal Smith holds a Master’s degree in Criminology and completed post-Master’s studies in Criminology and Criminal Justice. He is a Certified Correctional Healthcare Professional and a Certified Instructor in both Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention in County Jails and in Police Mental Health Training. He co-authored “Correctional-Based Mental Health Services: Designing a System That Works” (Chapter 19) in "Clinical Practice in Correctional Medicine," Michael Puisis ed. Philadelphia: Mosby Press, 2006 which won the NCCHC “Book of the Year” and has written numerous articles in major professional journals.
Hal Smith was appointment by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Health and serves on the International Panel of Experts for the Redevelopment of Broadmoor Hospital, the UK’s high security psychiatric facility.