The first week of Vermont’s legislative session saw the introduction of two bills that would dramatically advance the development of peer-based mental health services in the state. Five peer-led mental health organizations – Alyssum, Another Way, MadFreedom, Pathways...
Vermont’s first statewide use-of-force policy for police went into effect on Oct. 1, 2021. In preparation, law enforcement officers received in-person training by the Vermont Police Academy in August and September, with a self-identified psychiatric survivor providing...
On Jan. 15, the Vermont General Assembly learned that the Department of Mental Health (DMH) recorded 50 incidences of court-approved involuntary non-emergency psychiatric medication in Vermont hospitals in fiscal year 2021 (FY21), which began on July 1, 2020, and...
Amid emergency department logjams across Vermont, the Department of Mental Health (DMH) issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a new inpatient psychiatric unit for children and adolescents on Jan. 28. The Brattleboro Retreat is the only hospital in the state that...
The Vermont Department of Mental Health (DMH) delivered the first of two mandated reports by its Forensic Care Working Group to the legislature on Jan. 15, in accordance with Act 57. Passed in 2021, the law initiated a process to contemplate new restrictions, as well...
