Josselyn’s Chief Clinical Officer Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

By Susan Resko, Josselyn CEO and President

Josselyn’s Chief Clinical Officer, Michael Scholl, LCSW, received the Frank Anselmo Lifetime Achievement Award at the Community Behavioral Health Association annual conference last week.

His contributions to the field and to Josselyn have been extraordinary, with Josselyn’s clients as the primary beneficiaries of his dedication and expertise.

Mike has dedicated over three decades to community mental health and is a social worker at heart. “I was born to be a social worker,” he often says. He began his career at Leyden Family Services as an outpatient therapist and clinical intern supervisor in the early 1990s. He then moved to Jewish Family and Community Services as an Assistant District Administrator, working with the child development center. Mike spent a decade at Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4), serving as a site supervisor and later as a site director. He then took an 18-month detour at Meridian Health as Director of Care Coordination. In 2016, his passion for community mental health brought him back, and he joined Josselyn as Clinical Director, later becoming VP of Behavioral Health, and now Chief Clinical Officer.

At Josselyn, Mike has made a remarkable impact. He grew the clinical team from a dozen to over 200 staff members and expanded the client base from 1,100 to nearly 8,000. He launched innovative programs such as Immediate Access, a youth and adolescent IOP, three additional sites in Lake County, and grew the summer therapeutic intensive program from 8 to 120 children.

Mike is deeply invested in workforce development, growing the clinical internship program from six to over 40 interns. He is now expanding the first-year intern program to provide students meaningful experiences during their initial months of graduate school.

Beloved by his team, Mike’s leadership is reflected in an 87% voluntary retention rate. Every year, teammates join him in biking and push-up contests to celebrate his birthday.

Most of all, I am deeply grateful to Mike. His commitment, knowledge, and strategic thinking make him a valued partner in Josselyn’s mission to provide mental health care for all. I don’t think a week goes by without Mike popping into my office saying, “Susan, I have an idea.” Always thinking, always caring about our clients—that’s Mike Scholl.