Vermont

Vermont’s suicide prevention activities are housed within the state’s Agency of Human Services, Department of Mental Health (DMH) and led by the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center (VT-SPC), a program of the Center for Health and Learning created as a public-private partnership with the Agency that serves as a state-wide resource fostering a sustainable approach to suicide prevention in Vermont. State agency leaders, in alliance with VT-SPC, also created a broader group entitled the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition (VSPC), a public-private coalition with representation from public health, education, state agencies, advocacy groups, youth leadership, mental health services, and loss survivors, of which AFSP is a part and whose purpose is to advise the VT-SPC on suicide prevention efforts.

The Coalition is responsible for implementing the recommendations in the Vermont Suicide Prevention Platform: Working to Prevent Suicide Across the Lifespan, published by the VT-SPC in 2015. In 2017, Act 34 was passed requiring the Secretary of the Agency of Human Services to prepare a one-time report on Vermont suicide rates with national comparisons and provide recommendations and an action plan based on those data. The official Suicide Prevention Recommendations report was submitted to the legislature in January 2020.

In 2020, Vermont received a five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to establish a comprehensive statewide suicide prevention initiative. The initiative, Facing Suicide Vermont, aims to develop a coordinated state suicide prevention effort, promote awareness of existing state suicide prevention resources, identify at risk populations and expand services for those populations, and support the adoption of suicide prevention activities for certain healthcare providers, first responders, and community partners.