Heidi Cloutier has extensive experience working with underestimated communities, behavioral health providers, and youth leadership and development. She is passionate about social justice, equity and inclusion and recognizing and honoring each person’s strengths to improve the lives of youth & families. Heidi coordinated a statewide effort to develop the NH Alternative Peer Group (APG) Model, convening individuals and families with lived experience with substance use disorders (SUD), policy makers, and treatment providers to define the APG model implemented in NH, has develop evaluation tools and provides coaching and support to the six organizations implementing twelve APGs in NH in addition to the first Collegiate Recovery Program in NH. She is an endorsed Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Trainer with the Northeast Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Network and presents nationally on Multi-tiered Systems of Support, Behavioral Health and Youth Leadership.
As a sophomore in High school, Heidi was trained as a Peer Leader to recognize warning signs of suicide and the following year began facilitating groups with at risk youth at her local middle school. This began a lifelong passion for youth leadership, wellness and a commitment to equity and belonging for all. She worked in community mental health before joining the Institute on Disability in 1999, where she has worked in various initiatives that promote inclusion, recognizing and honoring each person’s strengths and working to improve the lives of youth & families. In her current role as Co-Director of Training for the Children’s System of Care Resource Center at the University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability, she collaborates with state partners to prepare and support the behavioral health workforce to provide the best possible supports to NH’s youth and families.
