A Conversation with Trillium Family Services CEO Jamie Vandergon
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Motus CEO and Founder Orlando Williams sat down with Motus client Jamie Vandergon, CEO of Trillium Family Services, to discuss leadership lessons, mental wellness, and the future of mental healthcare.
Trillium Family Services is Oregon’s only provider of the full continuum of mental and behavioral healthcare services for youth and families. Trillium offers every level of opportunity for kids and families to engage and support their mental health—from diagnosis and treatment to mental health prevention in more than 100 public K-12 schools, all the way up to the state hospital for youth, which is the highest level of care.
Leading through uncertainty
Orlando Williams (OW): Please share one leadership lesson you’ve learned through the recent mental health crisis and policy shifts. There’s so much change happening.
Jamie Vandergon (JV): There is so much change minute to minute—if you blink, you may have missed something. The most important thing for me right now is identifying trusted sources of information. There’s so much coming at us in our public, personal, and private lives. It’s hard to distill what’s real, what is fear, what are headlines, and what is reality.
Even in Oregon, sometimes the headlines don’t reflect what I know to be true behind the scenes. We look to organizations like the National Council for Mental Wellbeing as an incredible source to help us distill potential federal changes to Medicaid that could be catastrophic for our country and our organization.
So, to avoid further propagating the fear and anxiety that our staff and communities are already facing right now, we are trying to stay grounded in what we know to be true, examining current proposals, and making our best guesstimate of what they might mean for Oregon.
Sixty percent of Oregon kids are covered under Medicaid. Cuts to Medicaid would be devastating to our organization and also to the hospital systems. While it’s a wild time, we’ve been through difficult times before. We have always looked for and found a trusted source we can rely on to take each step, each day to make sure we’re getting the most accurate information, and then try to project out what that might look like for us and for our organization.
We are trying to stay the course and focus on our core mission, which is serving kids and families. In so many ways that is our act of resistance. We are on the frontline with kids and families, in schools, in intensive services across the state. Remembering why we do that work and why that work is important has been centering to us during a time of so much distraction.
Modeling mental health
Orlando: You’ve been at this for quite some time and also have a professional designation as a therapist. How do you stay mentally well as a leader when you’re responsible for so much and caring for others at such a significant level?
Jamie: I take my service to the organization seriously, and part of that service is practicing what we preach. Luckily, I have two young daughters, which keeps me very busy. The spring sports cycle is winding down, but it gets me outside a lot—I’m at every track meet, tennis match, and basketball tournament. I want to be at all their events.
This gives me a reason to take space from work, prioritize my kids’ activities, and make sure I’m there for those key moments in life so I don’t look back someday and wonder what I missed. That forces me to step away from the laptop, be outside or at an event, and do something else when I want to continue working.
Having that flexibility in my schedule is a serious privilege and blessing I don’t take for granted. In my role, I’m lucky that I can find that space. I try to tell my staff that I’m heading out to the track meet—I’ll be busy for an hour, but I’ll check back in later to make sure everything is alright. It’s about bringing that authentic self and modeling into work.
Self-care as a tool to push the growth edge
Orlando: What is the most pressing issue in mental health today—an area that doesn’t get talked about enough?
Jamie: On the national level, outside of current challenges with Medicaid, I’ve struggled with how much people have focused exclusively on self-care and boundaries. As a therapist, I would be remiss not to flag that those were meant to be tools to use as you face difficult things. If you have to barricade yourself with so many boundaries and bubble baths that you’re completely surrounded, then you don’t have peace.
While setting boundaries is an essential tool, it’s not to be overused or used as a means to avoid confronting something difficult. The conversation we’re missing nationally is how to take those self-care tools and use them strategically while you continue to push yourself to have difficult conversations, be authentic, and show up in spaces that push your growth edge.
We’ve come really far in decreasing stigma—so many athletes and musicians are talking about how important mental health is. The next evolution is learning how we can take these skills and apply them to grow, change, and evolve our own lives and experiences. Our goal isn’t to insulate ourselves from difficult things; it’s to use these valid tools to propel ourselves forward.
Preparing for the future of mental healthcare
Orlando: Looking ahead, what does the future of mental healthcare look like? How is Trillium preparing for it?
Jamie: The anxieties around Medicaid cuts are significant. Medicaid and Medicare are foundational for every hospital system. Even providers who primarily work with commercial insurance will see declines due to job loss in other sectors if Medicaid cuts are as catastrophic as currently drafted.
We’re fortunate to live in Oregon, which has prioritized children and mental health. It’s possible that once Oregon assesses the damage and the rates they’ll receive, they may make different decisions that protect the services and supports we value. We have coordinated care organizations that implement the Medicaid benefit and can make decisions around coverage.
I’m optimistic to be in Oregon during this time, but I’m also anxious about the cuts our kids and families could see to basic healthcare coverage. We continue to lean into our work with kids and families—it’s all we know and all we do. There are different ways we can repurpose the work and positions we have in our community under different umbrellas as we see which ones are surviving.
A message to leaders during Mental Health Awareness Month
Orlando: In closing, would you share additional wisdom or a message for other CEOs and leaders as we close out Mental Health Awareness Month?
Jamie: Take off the mask as much as possible. Be as authentically yourself as often as you can, and continue to lean into that even when you feel uncomfortable or nervous. I’ve never regretted those times I’ve had authentic conversations with others.
Also, I’m trying to slow down more in my professional and personal lives. Just slow down and take those small conversations with others that you might normally rush through. Having those authentic moments can lead to so much positive relationship building and growth for yourself.
To learn more about Trillium Family Services and their comprehensive mental health programs, visit www.trilliumfamily.org.
