VT Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2018

Doors to Wellbeing is a new National Consumer Technical Assistance Center established by the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery to assist consumer-run organizations to 1) advance the evidence-based practice of WRAP facilitation and other self-help services; 2) spark youth-led, consumer-run organizations and initiatives; and 3) to support organizations providing peer delivered, self-help services to the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the nation moves deeper into the 21st century, there is a new generation of consumers emerging with different cultural, generational, gender, sexual, and technological orientations and a new set of challenges. Doors to Wellbeing will engage the assets, enthusiasm, and lived-experience of our nation's young adult consumers to help energize the consumer-led movement in the United States. While promoting youth leadership, Doors to Wellbeing will also be a technology facilitated connection point for millions of diverse Americans of all ages who are forging new pathways to living full and independent lives in the communities of their choice. Doors to Wellbeing will help to usher in the peer-to-peer self-help movement 2.0. The five goals of Doors to Wellbeing are to: 1) Assist with the development of statewide consumer-run networks in five states; 2) Assist 25 consumer-run organizations to implement and deliver evidence-based WRAP facilitation services and other self-help services that produce positive health outcomes; 3) Train 500 young consumer leaders and develop 25 youth leadership initiatives that produce positive outcomes for consumer-run organizations and for young consumers; 4) Assist 15 organizations to provide evidence-based WRAP facilitation and other self-help services that produce positive health outcomes for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and 5) Assist 100 consumer-run organizations to understand and implement best practices in business, organizational, and programmatic operations.

Community FIRST (First Signs, Intervention, Referral, Support, Treatment) Vermont is a statewide collaboration between Behavioral Health Network of Vermont dba Vermont Care Network (VCN), Vermont’s Designated Mental Health Agencies and Specialized Service Agencies (DA/SSA), and Vermont Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Program (VT LEND). Community FIRST will: increase the mental health literacy of community members and professionals, reduce stigma, support the early identification and referral of those experiencing mental health disorders and/or substance use disorders (MH and/or SUD), and increase cultural competencies among community members and professionals supporting individuals with MH/SUD needs. In addition to general community members, targeted populations include: school-age youth, students and staff in higher education, veterans/military and their families, and refugee and immigrant (R/I) communities. To meet current demand and identified need, 38 established Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid (Y/MHFA) instructors, five new Y/MHFA instructors, and 30 new MHFA instructors will provide Y/MHFA trainings statewide certifying at least 3,600 community members and youth and adult serving professionals as First Aiders. In addition, at least 500 First Aiders and service delivery providers will be trained in Cultural and Linguistic Competency (CALC).

"The Vermont Statewide Family and Youth Leadership Project" will work with Vermont families of children, youth and young adults in transition experiencing or at risk of serious emotional disturbance to empower them to become agents of transformation for themselves, and the System of Care. This transformation will be family driven and youth guided and impact the implementation, sustainability, and improvement of effective mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services for children, youth, young adults in transition and their families.

Vermont Project AWARE is a joint effort between the Agency of Education (AOE) and the Agency of Human Services, Department of Mental Health (AHS/DMH) and three communities to promote: on-going collaboration at the state and local level regarding best practices to increase awareness of mental health issues; enhance wellness and resiliency skills for school age youth; and support system improvements for school based mental health services. The project will establish planning teams with each of three LEAs and their Designated Mental Health Agency (DA) partner. Target communities include: Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union, partnering with Lamoille County Mental Health; Addison Rutland Supervisory Union and Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union, who will both partner with Rutland County Mental Health Services. Each LEA/DA team will work with state staff to: improve access to school and community mental health services for school age children and their families; develop school-based mental health programs to screen for, provide early intervention and address ongoing mental health needs of youth; conduct outreach and engagement activities to increase awareness and identification of mental health issues and to promote positive mental health; include families, schools, and community stakeholders in planning and implementing project activities; help school-aged youth develop skills that promote resiliency and pro-social behaviors and prevent youth violence. The overall objectives of the project are to address issues in each community related to: access to services; service or knowledge gaps, such as becoming trauma responsive; and troubling trends in Youth Risk Behavior Survey results such as, the percent of youth who report being bullied, not feeling safe, having planned or attempted suicide, or misuse of prescription drugs. Vermont’s Project AWARE will rely on several evidence based practices to support its success, including: Youth Mental Health First Aid®; Umatter® youth suicide prevention activities; Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS); Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF); and Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) framework for complex trauma. Vermont expects these activities to impact 350 individuals in year one and 875 individuals in each of the remaining grant years or approximately 3350 LEA staff, parents, youth and community members over the course of the five year grant period.

The Coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: enhance leadership and collaborative skills of coalition members; provide information to community organizations and encourage community networking; collaborate with other community organizations to organize, schedule, promote and provide support for community events that provide information to community members; enhance parenting skills of community members, and emphasize the importance of preventing and reducing youth alcohol and marijuana use within our community; support the efforts around youth empowerment programs and evidence-based initiatives to increase wellness and reduce substance abuse; implement incentives for community members (youths and adults) exhibiting positive role model behaviors and striving to create positive community change; change the physical design of the environment in order to reduce risk factors for youth alcohol use/ marijuana use; modify policies and ensure enforcement of policies regarding sale and consumption of alcohol at organized public events in order to reduce the likelihood of youth access/consumption of alcohol; create or modify policies regarding marijuana; raise awareness of issues regarding illicit prescription opiate use; and reduce barriers to treatment and enhance drug take-back efforts in the region.

The Coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies:

Increase financial support from non-grant sources; increase participation in peer-led prevention projects; increase participation in state and national prevention campaigns; improve community outreach; increase focus on promoting policy changes that will help reduce underage drinking; and increase collaboration with neighboring coalitions.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: providing information, skill development, support, monitoring, and evaluation in order to reduce youth substance use, build community-wide support for prevention and outreach to youth and parents; developing the skills of staff, board, and coalition members in planning and implementation, sustainability, and engagement of key stakeholders, low-SES populations, and youth; supporting youth participation in alcohol-free and substance-free activates; and reducing youth access and exposure to alcohol and tobacco in retail settings by training and collaborating with retailers around physical design and retailer best practices.

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The Coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce alcohol youth use; reducing marijuana youth use; and reducing prescription drug youth use.

Vermont will apply the existing state-wide SPF infrastructure to prevent prescription drug misuse by increasing public knowledge of the risks of misuse and by increasing the role and skills of pediatricians in reducing access among youth and young adults. Prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) data will be included in community needs assessments and inform the evaluation of current and future prevention programming. The statewide goal for this grant is to increase awareness of safe use, storage, and proper disposal of prescription medication and decrease prescription drug misuse and abuse among Vermonters age 12-17 and 18 years and older.