Janet Simons has been appointed DMRS East Tennessee Regional Director stationed at the Knoxville Regional Office, effective April 1.

For the last two years Simons served at the DMRS Central Office-- as Director of Quality Enhancement from 1998 to present and Health Care Coordinator from 1997-98.

She was assistant director of Nursing at Arlington Developmental Center in 1996-97.

Simons holds a master of education degree (with concentration in HealthCare Administration) from Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio and a B.S. in psychology from Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, MA.

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On March 18, 1999, Governor Don Sundquist named Elisabeth Rukeyser of Knoxville commissioner of the DMHMR.

Rukeyser will oversee and direct the state's mental health services. Mental retardation services was transferred to Finance and Administration in 1996.

Active as a volunteer and leader of mental health organizations for more than 30 years, Rukeyser chaired the board of the National Mental Health Association from 1990-92. She is director of the board for

the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and in her 18th year on the advisory council to Boston University's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation.

In Tennessee, she chaired Covenant Behavioral Health and eight affiliated housing corporations. She served on the boards of Covenant Health Systems, TN Voices for Children and Lakeshore MHI. She was chair of Overlook MH Center Board of Directors and director of Detoxification Rehabilitation Institute, Helen Ross McNabb Foundation and Volunteer Ministries.

Chairs of five of the eight study committees appointed to review broad areas of Title 33 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, the law that governs the provision of services to citizens with mental illness and or mental retardation and some alcohol and drug services, reported at the March 3rd meeting of the commission.

Mary Rolando, director of the commission, said that while the information presented is being given serious consideration, the reports are preliminary.

"The commission has not taken any action. Members agree that much work is needed before we are prepared to make final recommendations to the governor," she said.

The Mental Retardation Study Committee, chaired by Elise McMillan, offered a proposal to replace the current definition in the law defining mental retardation with a functional definition of developmental disability.

McMillan said developmental disability is an important consideration, and recommendations concerning eligibility for services will need refining before proposed changes are submitted to the commission.

Members of the mental retardation group also suggested that the law be structured to reflect a range and scope of services specifically designed for the individual instead of one which describes an already existing model.

Point of entry into the system should also be clarified, according to the group.