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Lawmakers hear that Vermont’s "Team 2" crisis‑response training faces cuts as H13 would mandate more hours
Summary
Witnesses told the House Judiciary Committee that H13’s 15‑hour mandate and statutory use-of-force language risk disrupting an established multi‑disciplinary training (Team 2) that is currently contracted and may lose Department of Mental Health support; witnesses urged competency-based rules and clearer funding.
Kristen Chandler, coordinator of "Team 2," told the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 25 that the one‑day, scenario‑based training used statewide to prepare law enforcement and crisis clinicians for mental‑health calls faces a budgetary threat because the Department of Mental Health plans to take training in‑house and is not continuing the Team 2 model under its contract. "The Department of Mental Health plans to cut this program from their budget," Chandler said, urging lawmakers to preserve the contract so the training can continue.
Chandler described Team 2 as a 7½‑hour, scenario‑based program offered in five regions since 2014 with about 35 instructors and annual legal updates. She said the training brings law enforcement, clinicians, EMTs, dispatchers and others…
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