Vermont mental health system gets poor ranking in national survey

By Shay Totten | Vermont Guardian

posted March 1, 2006

WATERBURY — A prominent national mental health advocacy group has given Vermont a poor ranking in the services provided to residents, and warned of serious failure if current efforts fall short

A report issued Wednesday by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, gave Vermont a C-minus overall. The state was given a C-minus for infrastructure, and Ds for information access and services. It received an A for recovery support.

NAMI’s report lauded Vermont’s clinical community care, and for weaving consumer and family involvement into every level of the system, as well as the state’s mental health insurance parity law — which is considered a national model — that includes coverage for substance abuse.

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