More than thirty people attended the last meeting of the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition (VTSPC) meeting that was held in Montpelier at the Capital Plaza on December 12th, 2019.
The Vermont Department of Health introduced their latest data-briefs at the meeting outlining statewide prevention health data on suicide and mortality data as well as intentional self-harm data and firearms. Alison Krompf, Department of Mental Health, provided an update on the Agency of Human Services (AHS) recommendations that are being introduced in the legislature this month.
Tom Delaney, UVM Evaluator introduced the topic of a statewide suicide prevention infrastructure assessment.
There were also several presentations on the topic of Comprehensive Approaches to Suicide Prevention. Craftsbury Mental Health Group discussed how they formed and how they continue to grow and have identified that resources and training are key to their success. Franklin-Grand Isle Suicide Prevention Task Force discussed the importance of increasing cultural competence and creating Zero Suicide teams that can focus on several important aspects including CAMS training, policies and procedures, community awareness and training and evaluation and data review.
Northeast Kingdom Mentally Healthy Collaborative Action Network utilizes the collective impact and infrastructure methodology and multi-sectoral partnership through faith partnerships and schools to create community awareness and collect data and indicators. They described how their collaborative action network recently mobilized the first middle school walk for suicide prevention in the nation with over 80 people attending. They have also trained over 500 people in the Northeast Kingdom and have conducted pre and post evaluations where less than 30% reported they were comfortable discussing suicide and after the training more than 70% stated they were comfortable discussing suicide prevention.
Finally, the Veteran’s Administration discussed their priority of strengthening access and delivery of services leading to suicide prevention and recovery care for service members veterans and family members.
Please see links to all presentations below.
Important upcoming dates to remember include:
| Suicide Prevention Day | Statehouse | February 13, 2020 | |
| Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition | WRJ, VT | April 16, 2020 | |
| Suicide Prevention Symposium | Champlain College | June 30, 2020 |
Read the complete meeting minutes from September 12 HERE.
VT Suicide Prevention Coalition Meeting Presentation
AHS Legislative Recommendations
Photos from the event
Dr. Steven Broer, Director, Northwestern Counseling and Support Services, and representatives from the Northeast Kingdom present comprehensive community approaches to suicide prevention being used in their regions. 
Caitlin Jelinek, Public Health Analyst, VDH, present the Suicide Prevention Data Briefs 2019 
Alison Krompf, Director of Quality Improvement, DMH presents a set of recommendations being prepared for the legislature. 
