Suicide Prevention Community Based Activities

The State of Vermont’s Department of Mental Health (DMH) is soliciting a vendor to deliver comprehensive suicide prevention training and support services, focusing on broadening community engagement and assistance for individuals across all age groups, with special attention to those with lived experiences, clinicians, school staff, and youth. Funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the program seeks to strengthen statewide suicide prevention initiatives through training, resource development, and technical support for both the community and professionals. The contractor’s responsibilities include organizing and running at least three annual statewide network meetings, delivering quarterly foundational suicide prevention training and school-based programming, creating resources around safety and lethal means storage, and providing annual postvention training. Additional duties cover project management support for DMH’s strategic plan, the creation of a public dashboard to track progress against state goals, and the development of an interactive locator to help service members and their families find mental health providers. The initial contract will run for up to 12 months beginning January 2025, with the possibility of renewal for four years, and all work must be conducted in Vermont. Bidders must have proper state registration, obtain the necessary tax identification, and meet worker classification compliance for contracts exceeding $250,000. The contract value is estimated to range from $500,000 to $1,500,000.