Vermont officials outline statewide suicide-prevention plan, federal grants and firearm-safety efforts
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Summary
State mental-health and health department officials briefed a legislative committee on Vermont’s first State Strategic Plan for Suicide Prevention, federal grants that fund a public-awareness campaign and program work, recent data trends, and initiatives to reduce access to lethal means, including gun-lock distribution and clinical trainings.
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 of Vermonters who died by suicide were engaged in mental-health treatment at the time of death, which officials said supports a combined public-health and clinical approach. Officials described the strategic plan’s four directions—community-based prevention; treatment and crisis services; data quality improvement and research; and health equity—and said executive and implementation teams are in place to drive the work.
Federal grants and programs: Bush said the CDC grant funded Facing Suicide VT, a Vermont-focused awareness site and campaign. Some campaign work is being continued with GLS grant funds, and the Department of Health is adding youth- and family-focused material. Bush described the CDC funds as having enabled stakeholder engagement and website development and said current activity continues with existing federal funding.
Clinical and community efforts: Officials highlighted pilot and ongoing projects, including a Center of Excellence procurement to support statewide best-practice implementation; emergency-department Grand Rounds presentations tied to the Governor’s Challenge (an interagency initiative addressing suicide among service members, veterans and families); and training in Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM). Bush reported that more than 300 clinicians have been trained in CALM.
Lethal-means and firearm-safety work: The presenters said more than 2,000 gun locks were distributed in the last 18 months as part of lethal-means safety outreach. Allen and Bush described a firearm-safety web page and planned surveys linking adult household firearm questions with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) question on youth access to firearms to better align prevention strategies. In a description of method-specific data, Bush said a little more than half of suicide deaths in Vermont are by firearm; among self-harm emergency-department visits, about half are by poisoning and about 38 percent by cutting. Bush also said males account for the majority of firearm-related deaths and emphasized tailoring outreach—including a men-focused online campaign called Man Therapy—to populations at highest risk.
Data and surveillance: Officials described use of multiple data sources: ESSENCE emergency-department surveillance, REPIS adult risk-survey data, and YRBS for youth. Bush said the state has built a near-real-time dashboard to share information with partners and that recent trends show declines in suicide deaths and attempt-related emergency visits since 2021, while overall suicide-related ED visits and 988 90-day contacts have risen. Allen gave current-year counts as 90 confirmed suicide deaths with 55 pending cause-of-death determinations; he cautioned that "pending" cases only indicate a certificate has not been finalized and do not imply a specific number of additional suicides.
Veterans and the Governor’s Challenge: Allen described the Governor’s Challenge work and said recent reporting showed U.S. veteran suicide rates around 20 per 100,000 and Vermont’s rate reported at approximately 83.3 per 100,000 (as presented to the committee), and stressed targeted efforts for veterans and service members.
Program results and outreach: Bush said a paid promotion of Man Therapy produced more than 200 participants who completed an initial self-check; at least 10 people used the promoted help link and connected for services. The department plans a Facing Suicide Vermont newsletter and other outreach products.
Next steps: Allen and Bush said implementation teams will continue work on model protocols (schools and health-care facilities), expand postvention supports, advance the Center of Excellence work, and continue sharing dashboard data with partners. Stephanie Bush urged committee members to sign up for the department’s newsletter to receive implementation updates.
Officials encouraged anyone affected by material in the presentation to access available crisis resources, including 988, the Trevor Project and the Pathways peer-support line.
