Meet ruth scott

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Ruth serves as the Rhode Island Policy Director for the National Shattering the Silence Coalition, where her work is grounded in an unwavering commitment to treatment before tragedy and heart before handcuffs. Drawing from lived experience as a caregiver and decades of professional expertise, she is building a statewide caregiver network empowered through education, support, and access to critical resources. Her focus is on strengthening and advancing mental health services for individuals living with severe brain diseases, ensuring systems evolve to meet the changing and complex needs of Rhode Island communities.

In addition to her role with NSSC, Ruth is a certified NAMI Family Facilitator, leading Family-to-Family and Family & Friends education programs, and serves as a NAMI-certified educator and support group facilitator.

She is also a certified Mental Health First Aid responder. These roles directly inform her policy and advocacy work, grounding systems-level reform in the real-world experiences of families navigating serious mental illness.

Ruth actively supports and advocates for evidence-based interventions including Rhode Island outreach teams, Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), and court-ordered inpatient and outpatient programs. Through coalition-building, policy engagement, and community education, she works to bridge gaps between caregivers, clinicians, and systems of care—championing compassionate, recovery-centered solutions that prioritize dignity, safety, and timely access to treatment.