Vermont Substance Use Conference 2025

Between September 2023 and December of 2024, the Vermont Department of Health's Division of Substance Use Programs (DSU) partnered with Health Resources in Action to conduct a comprehensive, substance use system of care-wide community perspective needs assessment and strategic planning process. This session will review the findings of the needs assessment and the process through which its findings informed the division's new strategic plan. Participants will be among the first to have access to the new strategic plan and will hear how the division intends to operationalize it.

We explore how mental health literacy can strengthen the substance-use continuum of care. This session focuses on collaboration across systems to build shared language, reduce stigma, and promote early intervention. Attendees will learn how to connect with communities through storytelling, education, and advocacy and leave with practical tools to enhance communication, coordination, and care around mental health and substance use challenges.