The Vermont Department of Mental Health (DMH) and The Center for Health and Learning are proud to unveil the updated Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Platform, an effort to address the urgent issue of suicide prevention statewide. The Platform, created in partnership, is available to the public as an accessible tool containing resources and information on suicide prevention initiatives distilled into one comprehensive document.
VT Suicide Prevention Platform, 3rd Edition, 2023
The significance of this collaboration lies in the dire need to combat the alarming increase in suicide
deaths in Vermont. In 2021, we recorded 142 deaths by suicide in our state. The Suicide Prevention Platform provides a critical foundation for the forthcoming DMH Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, led by Chris Allen, slated for release in July 2024. This plan will chart the future of suicide prevention in Vermont, making the Suicide Prevention Platform an essential component to ensure accuracy, discover any gaps in services, and reflect the current landscape of suicide prevention efforts.
The need for this updated resource platform cannot be overstated. The suicide prevention landscape has evolved dramatically since its last update in 2015 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
CHL and the VT Suicide Prevention Center, (a program of CHL), in partnership with DMH, are proud to provide a platform that is accessible and informative to our community and the providers, partner agencies, and consumers that we support and work with.
Through this collaborative effort, the Suicide Prevention Platform is a one-stop document where individuals, community partners, and entire organizations can access vital information about suicide prevention initiatives, available pieces of training, and critical resources. The booklet aims to foster transparency and empower communities to be informed and engaged in suicide prevention efforts.
Please share this free resource widely within your professional and personal networks so that this information can reach as many people as possible, to serve as a valuable tool across all of our VT communities statewide! We all have ways of participating and contributing to decreasing the number of suicide deaths in VT.
In partnership,
Kathleen
