Jeffrey Vanderploeg

Jeffrey Vanderploeg, PhD, is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. He serves as President and CEO of the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI), a nonprofit focused on improving child health systems. His work emphasizes children’s behavioral health infrastructure, policy development, and evidence-based practice implementation. Vanderploeg holds a PhD from Bowling Green State University (2005) and has held roles at Yale’s Consultation Center as a fellow and researcher before joining CHDI in 2009.

His research focuses on system-level improvements for children’s mental health, including trauma-informed care, school-based interventions, and statewide policy frameworks. He co-authored Connecticut’s Children’s Behavioral Health Plan (2014), a foundational document guiding system integration across health, education, and justice sectors. He actively participates in committees like the Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board and the CT Behavioral Health Partnership’s Quality Subcommittee.

Professional contributions include advancing mobile crisis care quality improvement and developing the School-Based Diversion Initiative to reduce unnecessary juvenile justice system involvement. Despite no explicitly listed awards in the provided texts, his leadership roles indicate significant recognition in pediatric health advocacy.

Advising and grant activities remain unspecified in the source materials, though his policy work suggests involvement in funded initiatives. He collaborates with CHDI and Yale teams to bridge academic research with community implementation, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to child health equity.