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Families and advocates tell committee hospital conditions, staffing and community supports remain gaps in Vermont mental-health system

2175267 · January 30, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Judy Seiler, president of the board of NAMI Vermont, and several people with lived experience told a legislative committee that closures, poor conditions, staffing shortages and limited community supports are leaving families without adequate options for relatives with serious mental-health needs.

Judy Seiler, president of the board of NAMI Vermont, and several individuals with lived experience addressed a legislative committee to describe persistent gaps in inpatient capacity, community supports and family resources for people with serious mental-health needs.

Seiler told the committee that many families experience isolation, stigma and lack of support for relatives who cannot live independently. "We have this program already created," Seiler said of NAMI’s Family-to-Family course. "Our NAMI's family to family class is updated every couple of years. There's new science, there's new education." She urged the committee not to reinvent an evidence-based family-education program when a nationally taught NAMI curriculum—created in Vermont and taught nationwide—is available.

Seiler asked that funds proposed for a separate…

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