Leadership Biographies
Dr. Frank Scarpati
President/Chief Executive Officer
Frank Scarpati has a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Southern California, a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Management from Pepperdine University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Columbia College. He is a certified Psychotherapist; a Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor (LISAC); Master’s Level Addiction Counselor (State, National, and International); Compulsive Gambling Counselor; and Community College Teacher. Dr. Scarpati has also completed advanced training from the Center for Applied Science leading to certifications as a Relapse Prevention Specialist, Labor Relations Mediator and Reality Therapist, and a Professional Mediator.
Since February 1996, Dr. Scarpati has been the Chief Executive Officer of Community Bridges, an Arizona private non-profit whose programs include: three inpatient Crisis Care/Medical Detoxification Centers with a total of 80 beds with over 20,000 entries annually; a 56 bed residential treatment program for 24 pregnant women and 32 children; 5 intensive outpatient/relapse prevention/methamphetamine treatment programs in three counties that serve over 900 adults each year; and a prevention, education, and community development program serving over 30,000 individuals and families each year.
Dr. Scarpati is the founder and Executive Director of the Education and Training Institute, a consulting organization whose focus is the prevention, education, and treatment of addiction. He has provided community development services to 25 cities within the State of Arizona; mediation services through the Arizona Attorney General’s Office; student support group facilitator training for administrators, teachers, and school psychologists throughout the United States, Canada, and Pacific Rim countries; and prevention program consultation services to police departments and school systems throughout the United States. Dr. Scarpati is also a consultant/trainer for the Federal Government’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).
Dr. Scarpati served for three years as the Governor of Arizona’s Community Liaison for the Office of Drug Policy, coordinating the Governor’s Drug Prevention efforts throughout the State. He teaches at both the university and community college levels; provides college courses to inmates of the Arizona state prison; outreach programs to youth gang members; and special emphasis human resource seminars (individual and organizational development, equal opportunity, sexual harassment, human relations, and ethics).
During his 27 year career in the United States Air Force, he gained considerable experience as a Combat Electronics Technician - 8 years (including two tours in Viet Nam); an Air Force Recruiter - 8 years; in program administration and staff development as a hospital-based Clinical Director (3 years in the U.S. and 3 years in Europe); and 5 years as the Regional Administrator of 18 chemical dependency treatment centers located in 7 countries throughout a vast region of the Pacific (from Alaska to New Zealand).
Dr. Scarpati maintains a private practice limited to addiction treatment for high-risk, high profile individuals, and is a past member of the Board of Directors of the United Way, the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness, and the Maricopa Association of Government’s Continuum of Care. Dr. Scarpati is also a former President of the Arizona Board for the Certification of Addiction Counselors (ABCAC), a former Board member of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and former State Representative to the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (ICRC). In 2002, he was appointed by the Governor of Arizona as a member of the State of Arizona Homeless Trust Fund Oversight Committee. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Council of Human Service Providers and Southwest Behavioral Health, Inc.
Dr. Scarpati and his wife Christine have a blended family of 6 adult children and 4 grandchildren. Christine has been the Executive Director of the Child Crisis Center (Mesa) since its creation in 1981.
