Vermont officials outline statewide suicide-prevention plan, federal grants and firearm-safety efforts

Chris Allen, director of suicide prevention for the Vermont Department of Mental Health, and Stephanie Bush, principal investigator for the Department of Health’s federal grants, told a legislative committee that the state has moved from planning into implementation of a statewide suicide-prevention strategy.

Allen said the first State Strategic Plan for Suicide Prevention was submitted in July 2024 under a requirement in Act 56 and that the plan aligns with the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. "Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members for asking us to present on suicide prevention in Vermont," Allen told the committee during the presentation.

The presentation summarized the state’s timeline and funding: a statewide coalition formed in 2008; Vermont adopted the Zero Suicide framework beginning in 2016; the state received a CDC Comprehensive Suicide Prevention grant and a SAMHSA Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) youth-prevention grant in 2022; and the three-digit crisis lifeline 988 launched in July 2022. Bush said both the CDC and GLS grants have supported the Facing Suicide VT public-awareness campaign and other outreach work.

Why it matters: Vermont’s suicide rate has historically been above the U.S. rate and suicide prevention crosses public-health and clinical systems. Allen noted that only 32 percent…