Dr. Patricia B. Getty, is the Acting Division Director for the Division of Systems Development, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA). She is responsible for data, materials development, technical assistance and training for CSAP prevention programs. She is the Project Officer for the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Center for Excellence, the Communities That Care Implementation project and serves on the Iraq Initiative Workgroup.

She has served as Branch Chief for the Division of State and Community Systems Development at CSAP, providing oversight to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grants. She directed the efforts to develop a set of prevention performance measures which eventually led to the National Outcome Measures. She served as the CSAP Coordinator for the International Visitors Program, the Returning Veterans Initiative and was a Government Project Officer responsible for the development of a web-based curriculum associated with the core competencies for the Prevention Professional Certification.

Dr. Getty was the Idaho State Director for Substance Abuse for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and as the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Coordinator for the Department of Education in Idaho. She served as the Chairman for the National Steering Committee for the U.S. Department of Education’s Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program.

She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Prevention Professional and an Internationally Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor. In addition to many years in the prevention field, she spent 17 years as a substance abuse counselor, working in various civilian and military facilities including the U.S. Military Hospital in Nuremburg, West Germany. She directed several treatment facilities in Idaho. While in private practice, she contracted with the Veterans Administration to provide counseling to veterans returning from Vietnam and their families, focusing on PTSD, substance abuse, co-occurring disorders and suicide prevention.