Vermont prevention leaders urge Senate committee to secure sustained funding for substance-use prevention

Vermont Department of Health officials and regional prevention leaders told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on March 20 that sustained, consolidated funding is essential to maintain and expand statewide substance-use prevention programs.

The department’s presentation, led by Rick Hildbrand, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, and Emily Truder, director of the department’s Division of Substance Use Programs, summarized research and state-level program results and urged the panel to protect and stabilize the substance-misuse prevention fund as the Legislature considers FY27 appropriations. “Sustaining and supporting consistent funding from the substance misuse prevention fund for this work is critical,” Hildbrand said.

The request and evidence Truder highlighted national and state data to make the fiscal and public-health case for prevention. She cited a study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that the state summarized as an $18 return for every $1…