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Agency of Human Services recommends staying unified, proposes targeted changes including mental-health/substance-use integration
Summary
AHS officials told joint House committees the review required by Act 119 (2024) recommends keeping the agency intact while advancing Tier 1 changes — including integrating substance-use functions into the Department of Mental Health, investments to strengthen the Department for Children and Families, and operational fixes for DOC.
At a joint hearing of the House Health Care and Human Services committees, Agency of Human Services leaders presented findings from the Act 119 (2024) review and recommended the agency remain a single, unified executive branch entity while pursuing targeted reforms.
The agency framed its recommendation around risk, cost and client continuity. "So what our recommendation is is that we strengthen, keep AHS together and strengthen as a unified agency," Ted Fisher, principal assistant and communications director for AHS, said while reviewing Tier 1 findings. The report team said splitting the agency would impose high financial and service-disruption costs and would not necessarily solve coordination problems.
Why it matters: AHS is Vermont’s largest executive agency, serving hundreds of thousands of residents and accounting for a substantial portion of the…
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