Dick Branton

Dick Branton was interviewed by Bill Schneider and Karen Brewster on June 11, 2009 at his home in Wasilla, Alaska. He began his career in law enforcement before Alaska became a state. He moved into work with the Department of Corrections for the State of Alaska and developing programs to reform and rehabilitate prisoners. Eventually, he served as Deputy Director for the state's Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities where he helped promote cross training between mental health providers and corretions staff in order to best help mental health patients with criminal backgrounds. In this interview, Dick discusses his career and accomplishments, his work with delivery of mental health services in Alaska and how this has changed over the years, and the effects of the mental health trust lands battle and lawsuit. The interview continues in part two.