About CA Area IHS Native American SmartCare
Vista Hill Foundation’s Native American SmartCare service has Board Certified Psychiatrists, Nurse Practitioners and Behavioral Health Clinicians available to support and guide Primary Care Providers and Behavioral Health affiliates. We offer timely access to expert psychiatric and behavioral health consultations to aid in identification and treatment of youth and their families who are experiencing behavioral health challenges. This program also provides consultation to families who are seeking support in understanding behavioral health symptoms and treatment. We also help in navigating behavioral health, seeking services and obtaining resources.
About Vista Hill
Vista Hill Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1957. Vista Hill is dedicated to providing treatment and services for Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse Treatment and helping youth and adults with developmental disabilities. We believe our clients deserve respect and encouragement as they acquire the tools to recover, build or improve their lives.
Our programs range from early intervention and preventive work with children before they develop mental health issues, to youth immersed in substance use disorder to long-term special education and training for young people and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We believe an individual who has life circumstances beyond their control and desires a positive change need not go it alone—there is help. And seeking out the help one needs is a sign of strength that is both admirable and courageous. We believe our clients deserve respect and encouragement as they acquire the tools to recover, build or improve their lives. The trust by our clients, partners and funders compels us to constantly perform and conduct ourselves in a trustworthy way.
Left to right: Dr. Shawn Sidhu, Cari Gloria, Dr. Mark Chenven and seated Judy Whitcher at Southern Indian Health Council Conference, San Diego, 10/21/22
Staff Bios
Shawn Sidhu, M.D.
Shawn Sidhu is a lead child psychiatry consultant with Native American Smart Care. He serves as Associate Medical Director with Vista Hill Foundation and works as child psychiatrist with Vista Hill Foundation’s SmartCare Behavioral Health Consultation Services program. Dr. Sidhu also is an Associate Professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine where he is Training Director for the UCSD Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program. Dr. Sidhu also serves as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with Southern Indian Health Council. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Association and a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Sidhu has worked with Native American communities throughout his career, including school based, outpatient and home visiting programs, as well asTelehealth psychiatry programs. He has supported healthcare workers at Native American health centers through in-service trainings, webinars and workshops.
Mark Chenven, M.D.
Dr. Chenven is the Executive Medical Director for the Vista Hill Foundation and lead child psychiatrist for the Vista Hill Foundation SmartCare Behavioral Health Consultation Services (BHCS) programs. He also oversees psychiatric services in school based, substance abuse treatment and developmental disabilities programs with Vista Hill Foundation.
Dr. Chenven is the former Clinical Director for Children, Youth and Family Services for San Diego County Mental Health Services. He is a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Community Based Systems of Care. He has served as President of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry. He is currently a member of the American Psychiatric Associations Council on Children, Adolescents and Families. He is a Clinical Professor for University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.
Judy Whitcher, LPCC
Judy Whitcher is Program Manager for Vista Hill Foundation Native American SmartCare, licensed as a Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in California. She has a Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Forest Institute of Professional Psychology. She has been licensed as a mental health professional in Arkansas and then later, California since 2005. Judy has worked in school-based and community mental health, as well as outpatient, residential and IOP settings for 15 years in the Mississippi Delta region of Southern Arkansas with underserved and at-risk children, youth, family, adult and geriatric populations—primarily with serious mental health and emotional diagnoses. She further contracted with the Arkansas Department of Child and Family Services providing individual and family therapy services to families at risk of foster care placement and working through reunification. She also served as Adjunct Professor of Psychology at University of Arkansas, McGehee.
Shirley Fett, FNP-BC, PMHS (Family Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified, Pediatric Mental Health Specialist)
Shirley Fett is the Consulting Nurse Practitioner with Native American SmartCare. She also serves as consulting Nurse Practitioner with Vista Hill Foundation SmartCare Behavioral Health Consultation Services, in which she provides consultations to both Primary Care Physicians and Families. She has extensive knowledge and expertise in Developmental Disabilities System of Care in California, with a focus on Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Shirley is a graduate of the University of Iowa Nursing Program and San Diego State University (SDSU) and University of California San Diego (UCSD) Nurse Practitioner Program.
Jennifer Clay, MA, LMFT, ATR-BC (Masters of Arts, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Board Certified Art Therapist) (Choctaw)
Jennifer Clay is a Cultural Consultant with Native American SmartCare. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Board Certified Art Therapist for the last 15 years. She is a PhD Candidate in Art Therapy and is also Assistant Director at San Diego State University (SDSU) Native Resource Center.
Jennifer is the daughter of a Boarding School survivor, with her family rooted in The Red Earth of Oklahoma and is a member of Choctaw Nations of Oklahoma.