 Ableton-on-air is sponsored in part by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community. Additional support for Ableton-on-air is sponsored in part by Washington County Mental Health Services, where hope and support come together. Such a terrific job of over the years saying we need to do this differently. We need to make sure that everybody across any spectrum of health issue is treated with respect, with dignity, and given top quality care. We are still on that path, but I think we've made a lot of progress in the last 10 years, and we have a lot more to do. But we are looking to continue to strengthen our community support services and community treatment. We're looking to make sure that we expand the number of beds so that people are not spending excessive amounts of time in emergency rooms or trapped in a place with an inappropriate level of care for their needs. And we want to make sure that we're making sure that everyone is safe. These are really critical issues, and as we see increases in instances of mental health issues, increases in acuity in places, just know that those of us here in Montpelier are hearing that. We're listening. We're really working to solve the problem. I'm really grateful to have all of you and the people that represent you here on a daily basis working on those issues. I'm happy to take a couple of questions and just really, really appreciate all of you being here. Yes, sir. Madam Speaker, one of the things that you failed to mention as far as appropriation of funds is to increase, I mean, what if a person with mental and physical challenges is homeless? We need to increase funding for that as well. You know, homeless services for people that are dual diagnosed, just, you know, to give them housing as quick as possible as well. I think that's another thing we need to look at. Thank you for mentioning that. Homelessness and being dual diagnosed in certain instances. Thank you for that. There are a lot of exciting new housing initiatives rolling out, given the bond that was passed a couple of years ago. We know that we can only pat ourselves on the back for only a short period for that because that money is pretty well close to fully committed at this point. And so we're going to need to keep finding new sources and new ways to address, you know, to address all the different reasons that people are homeless and all the issues that folks struggling with homelessness are dealing with. Yes. Yes, Madam Speaker, I'm Marla Simpson, MA. I'm wondering about respite beds, like a retreat type place, like a lesson or a Christmas place or the cottage in Addison County. I don't believe we need to keep building more and more hospital beds built if they will come. They will keep getting killed up. We need more alternative, more holistic places of respite. What do you feel about that? Some of those beds were in part of the larger plan a number of years ago, and I know that the committees are looking at looking at all the different variety of services. We understand that, I mean, I think that legislators' understanding of the complexity of the problem and all the different facets of the potential solutions were in a much better, deeper place of those understandings than we were five or ten years ago. And so we understand that in order to create the beds for the people that need them, part of that involves some of the respite facilities or step down facilities. And so certainly open to looking at all the different ways we can get a variety of different care providers and care services online to be able to meet people where they are in any place in the continuum. Thank you. One more? Yes. And this past year in the new position, I've really come to understand that homelessness is an important problem. And at the shelter, you know, on the daily basis, we get people from Georgia, Florida, and the future, you know, Massachusetts, people are coming to promote their lives such as robust services. But it leaves us at a disadvantage because people come with no records and inability to make, you know, very, very complicated diagnoses. And then it leaves the shelter system holding. And it's beyond their ability to serve. So the partnership has really helped. I mean, you know, I've seen a kind of, you know, ability to watch people go to the homeless. I think we have a point that we didn't have. But the stress is, you know, that from the shelter, you know, it goes from home to your home. There are things that we haven't thought about. It's the kind of community-based foundation that will address that problem. Our homeless shelters become a place for people to live here in Alabama. Thank you for commenting. All right, I don't know what your schedule is like. Oh, no, go ahead. We have time, but I think there's one back here. Yes. Yeah, are you also, you're thinking about beds and you're thinking about crisis beds and residential beds and so on. So the question was about preventative mental health care. I think I started that list of things that, you know, we were talking about with the community-based system, which isn't necessarily preventative, but it prevents advancing into the system. So yes, it prevents the need for more upstream services. There are some innovative programs that I have just recently been hearing about with partnerships with FQHCs in schools, providing mental health care in schools. Is that exactly? An FQHC is a federally qualified health clinic providing mental health care in schools. I was just talking with the group of providers yesterday about that. That is those kinds of services are certainly the most cost-effective to deliver and they're really critical. We really have to be looking at all across the spectrum because the catch-22 that a lot of people, that I think systems fall into is that you can't avoid the most severe need because that's where we see the biggest impact when somebody is not getting their needs met in a very severe situation. But that's also the least cost-effective. So we've got to be able to come up with the money to treat the full range so that the preventative care and the early intervention care is effective and avoids those more intense needs. But we can't take the money away from up here where there are really dire consequences. So the struggle is coming up with the money that's needed for the full range of the system. Yes? I have an answer for you. Excellent! I wonder if you think that we could be doing... We have 47 groups that are not coming to designated schools. There are a lot of nonprofits that benefit from grants. But the nonprofits that provide some of the services offering support groups for people who then can go to work. They have been struggling because those groups have been under strict budget restrictions because their funding has been strapped for the last five years. We haven't had any budgeting reasons. So those types of things we have to find money for because those are the answers and we have to support people before they have a problem. And that's where I want to have more money. So that NAMI and Vermont psychiatric survivors and Vermont Federation of Families and the rest of them can all get the grant funding that they really need. And that's our struggle here in this building is to come up with that funding for the full range of services and to do that for the full range of housing support services and then to do that for the full range of addiction services. And it's a full, yes. I want to let the speaker go back to work but I'd like to thank her for taking the time. I would love us to hear from is the majority leader in the Senate. And she may have another job. You have another job while you're here. For us, are you going to do another job? I'm going to do another job. Yeah, okay. Anyway, she is the majority leader in the Senate and Senator from Wyndham County, Becca Baylent. Good morning to all of you. It is my tremendous pleasure and honor to be able to stand here before you today to acknowledge someone who has worked so very hard and with so much love and dedication to my constituents in Wyndham County, to my neighbors, to my friends, to all of us who need supports along the way. I have known Julie Cunningham for a very long time, decades in fact. I actually have her son in a program at the camp that I directed and I've known her for a long time in many facets of her world and mine. And I have to say, to be here to help give this award to her for her work is such a tremendous honor. I'm wondering, Julie, if you'd be willing to come up here while I talk to them about the criteria for giving you this award for your work. There are other legislators here from Wyndham County. I'd ask for them to come up and stand with Julie as well. I know many of us would love to be here. We're all juggling committees. So I want to read to you the criteria for this award, the Community Advocate Award. The receiver of the award exemplifies outstanding commitment and service to advocate on behalf of individuals with mental health condition or disability to developmental disability. Demonstrates a passion and commitment to support individuals with a mental health condition or developmental disability. Advocates on state policy and our funding to advance and improve the community-based system of care. Active in statewide committees or groups that address mental health or developmental disability, supports individuals to promote the recovery and or integration in community life. Educates the community about their, excuse me, educates the community about mental health and or developmental disabilities. The other thing that I want to say about Julie is she understands intersectionality. She understands that we have to deal with race and we have to deal with class and we have to deal with LGBTQ issues. We have to deal with disability issues. She is not in a silo thinking about this as only one issue. She is bringing all the constituents together to talk about these issues and how we make life better for all Vermonters. Julie, I love you so much and I am so honored to be here to give you this award. Everyone, Julie Cunningham, glitter on there. To be able to know me now that this is an opportunity for me to talk so of course I was going to become prepared. I will say the last few days since I have been honored with this award it has been a little bit like being at my own funeral. You are saying really nice things about me. So I would like to thank my dear friend and colleague Beth Sightler. Is Beth here? Thank you. For nominating me and to Julie Tesler and all of my colleagues from Vermont Care Partners. It's an amazing organization that we have of working together for people with disabilities and people with mental illness. I have been struggling in my advocacy in the last few months in both the world that the majority of my advocacy takes place. Civil rights for people with disabilities and racial justice for African Americans. So I would like to talk for a moment about the intersection of ableism and racism and some thoughts I have about addressing and dismantling both. I don't look it but I am African American. Both my parents are fair-skinned blacks who went to segregated schools. My mother in Washington DC and my father in Atlanta, Georgia. The indignities and trauma that were inherent in a segregated society negatively impacted my parents profoundly and so of course affected me as I grew up in the 60s and 70s. Even though the society had passed laws that created a better life for me and my kids. My father knew Dr. Martin Luther King. They lived in the same segregated neighborhood in Atlanta. Since no one has changed my life more profoundly than Dr. King, I have been a student of his teachings for most of my life. There is often a misunderstanding about Dr. King that he was stalwart and certain of the ability of nonviolent philosophy to dismantle racism. In Dr. King's final book, Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community, he said, We have proceeded from a premise that equality means what it says and have taken white Americans at their word when they talked of it as an objective. But what most whites see equality as a loose expression for improvement. White America is not even psychologically organized to close the gap. Essentially it seeks only to make it less painful and less obvious, but in most cases in terms to retain it, to maintain the power structure that exists. Eight months before Dr. King died, he said that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously. This is a hard truth, but one that has been brutally affirmed through the years and in every state including the rest. We can desegregate schools and lunch counters, but a self-described white nationalist can drive former representative Kaya Morris out of office. Several of the Bradmore Air Community Equity Collaborative, of which I'm a founding member, met with Kaya after a speech she gave describing the two years of threatened violence she and her family had through. Former Representative Kaya Morris is from Bennington. During the televised press conference a few weeks ago, the white nationalist who had been threatening her the previous two years came into the room wearing the weapon and wanted his opportunity to give his side of the story. Even in that moment she was not offered protection. Apparently there are no laws to protect Kaya or any representative from a marginalized community. I call on the legislators here in the State House to change this during the current session. Similarly we can close the Brandon Training School, which at its core was segregation and confinement based solely on having a disability. But the people I serve in love experience ableism every day. This occurs from both blatantly getting called the R award. And suddenly people looking away are dressing a staff or a family member instead of looking at them, the person. We have an excellent community based system, the pride of the nation and even the world. But it is undervalued and it is underfunded. The consultant hired by Dale, who is collecting data that will be used to inform payment reform, offensively and repeatedly stated that our staff is well paid compared to other states. His data did not consider that we have staff that are eligible for fuel assistance and food stamps, that after paying for childcare I have staff that are bringing home six or seven dollars an hour. As Bernie Sanders says, a job should be a ticket out of poverty, not keep you in it. Support professionals are doing challenging and vital work. I actually feel like the name is wrong. They are ambassadors for the civil rights of people with disabilities. Last year, actually I'm sorry, two years ago, the legislature approved of what we understood to get a two year cycle to raise the wages of the direct support workforce. To 14 an hour last year, thank you for that, that did happen. But last year when it was, in 2018 when it was supposed to go to 15 an hour, that did not occur. However, some of the mental health system did receive a needed increase. Why the disparity? As a mental health and addiction services, our needs in developmental services are increasing. They increase because more people need help. I ask you as our legislature to examine the unconscious stigma and fully fund all vulnerable grand planters who rely on our system of care. Whether for short term acute needs or lifelong services and supports for people with disabilities. Setting policy and passing laws is critically important, but it is only one aspect of what we must do if we are truly committed to fundamentally changing our society into one which everyone is included and everyone is valued. It means looking into our conscious and unconscious privileges and prejudices and the way we have all been taught to other eyes, to turn somebody literally from a person into another. It means having hard conversations, it means truth telling and it means taking individual and collective responsibility. For advocates it's supporting each other when we're discouraged and exhausted. It's taking turns on who has the courage in the moment to speak out against injustice even when your voice is shaking. I'd like to end by shouting out to my comrades who do this dance with me and I really wish my people from Families First were here. I don't think they made it through the snow. But there's an advocacy group at Families First called the Wild Hope's Advocacy Group. Amazing courageous advocates. Green Mountain Support Advocates has probably been my best teacher through the years in terms of advocating for people with disabilities, especially Tomber and Max. Did I see you all here? Community equity collaboratives of the Brattleboro area and our goal is to make Brattleboro free of racism and discrimination of all kinds. We've got a lot to go, but we're working towards it. And some of them are right here, Representative Emily Kornheiser, Senator Baha Bayan, Representative Nader Hashim, and Senator White have all contributed to our work in that effort. Thank you all for staying in the course with me. I would like now, she's been very patient and probably has somewhere else to be. How are you? Great. Sarah Squirrel is our new Commissioner of Mental Health. I've worked with Sarah in the past a little bit and have high hopes for her new role and for her. So Sarah Squirrel. It's so nice to see people recognized for their incredible work. So thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. It is truly an honor to serve as the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health. And I want to thank all the sponsors for this important day, our state and community partners, advocates, peers, and family members. You have all stood with unwavering support and advocacy for the mental health needs of our monitors. And it's truly an honor to stand here side by side with all of you today. I've had the opportunity to work in community mental health for most of my career. And as a community member and as a family member, I understand the importance of access to high quality mental health care. When our children, friends, neighbors, and family members have access to the right mental health care at the right time, the impact on their lives is powerful and for many, nothing less than life saving. I was asked to talk a little bit about the future vision for mental health in Vermont. And from my vantage point, we're at a critical juncture of the mental health system and as a state supporting vulnerable Vermonters. And the path of status quo is likely not an option. And the alternative path will require trust, collaboration, innovation, and a collective vision. And a fundamental commitment to keeping those we serve at the center of our work. And let's be clear, there are no easy answers to the challenges we face. Needs will always outpace resources and given the complexity, no single group or approach will solve this. We need a collective answer. Our communities and service delivery systems must commit to work together to improve the mental health care of Vermonters. But first, I think we must pause and bring an appreciative eye to the people needing care and the landscape of our mental health system. We must move away from the view of people and systems as problems to be solved, but focus on the power of resilience and recovery and our opportunity to build on the strengths of our existing mental health system in a more proactive, coordinated, and integrated direction. And I think we have to acknowledge that we still tend to identify need as a deficiency. And I don't know many Vermonters who like to be defined by problems or illness, but rather it is our courage and strength that designs us. And if there is one thing we have a lot of in our brave little state of Vermont, it's strength, determination, and hope. So, broadly, we need to strengthen the overall capacity of our system, a continuum of promotion, prevention, early intervention, treatment, and recovery, paying attention to several key priority areas, focusing on right-sizing our inpatient capacity for children, youth, and adults. Longer wait times in emergency rooms are symptomatic of a larger problem, which is not having flow in our system. We need to improve our ability to support those seeking care and moving them through stages of care. We have to address this by having adequate inpatient and community capacity. And while inpatient capacity is an important component, it's not the only answer. We have to build and expand our community mental health supports and programs, step-down facilities and programs that support short-term and long-term housing, particularly those that emphasize peer support. Expanding community outreach, diversion, and mobile crisis programs that are being delivered in our communities and our incredible partnership with law enforcement, and I'd like to take a moment and thank those who are joining us in the room today, because we are demonstrating great outcomes and represent an enormous return on investment, not to mention diverting people from emergency rooms and reducing the need for hospitalization. We have to of course focus on our workforce and training, including working with our hospitals to build partnerships with our community mental health agencies, to collaborate around training and staffing to ensure that people who are experiencing a mental health crisis receive the fast stabilizing and therapeutic care they deserve. And we also need to continue to build capacity for early intervention and prevention. We have a key opportunity to go upstream and intervene earlier. We know that children are setting long-term health trajectories in their earliest years. We can intervene earlier, mediate the impacts of adversity, promote resilience, and prevent larger problems from developing later on. The bottom line is the earlier we intervene, the better the outcomes. And we have to continue to collectively address stigma. Many people who would benefit from support or treatment don't access it because of fear of judgment, of labeling, and prejudice. We have to recognize stigma as a real barrier to accessing care. And addressing stigma is not an overly complicated endeavor and simply requires us talking openly about mental illness, educating ourselves and others, and encouraging equality between physical and mental health. And finally, I think we need a vision. We need a clear 10-year vision for our mental health system in Vermont. And the question we should be asking ourselves is, what is the future of Vermont mental health system look like in 2029? Because if we don't know our end state, we don't know our next steps. We have to be smart, build a system for the future and the now. And if we don't have a vision, we risk continuing to rely on band-aids and quick fixes that can get in the way of achieving the long-term solutions that we really need. And I think that this vision has to be anchored in the opportunity between integration of mental health and health care in Vermont. Yes, we are moving in the right direction, but fundamentally we still have separate systems for mental health and physical health. And we need to move intentionally towards integration. So as we reflect on all of the opportunities that we have before us as mental health system partners, many of us are likely reflecting on our own family, friends, and relatives who have been impacted by mental illness. And whether you sit in a system seat, a community seat, a family seat, or perhaps all three, we all need to ask ourselves, what is my contribution going to be? What solutions do I bring to the table? And what will people say in the future about what we did today to support the mental health care of Vermonters? And that is the question we all need to roll up our sleeves and get to work on. Thank you very much. I have a few minutes, so will you do one other thing? Okay, thank you. That's just in case you didn't know the lieutenant governor is going to be here in a minute. But right now, Kristen Chandler, if you could come up. Not before I know. Well, good morning. I see this is becoming like a sit-in, which is just amazing. I have so many people here. I'm Kristen Chandler. I'm the coordinator for team two, which is a unique training curriculum that's offered statewide. That is a joint effort between the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Mental Health that brings law enforcement officers, mental health crisis commissions, dispatchers, EMTs, together in a room together for one day to learn each other's language and learn how to collaborate in responding to mental health crises. This program has been going on for about five years. And about three years ago, we created an award called the Frank Silphies Award for Frank Silphies, who was an original member of the steering committee who put together the curriculum for team two, and he was the emergency services director at HDRS. And he passed away in 2015. HDRS is what? Healthcare and Rehabilitation Services. Frank's wife, Sally Ann, couldn't be here today because she's sick today. She was willing to drive up here from Windsor through the snowstorm but unfortunately can't be here today. But we created this award with her blessing in Frank's name because he really exemplified collaborative response and found a way to bring various voices together to respond to mental health crises. So this award is given every year, now in the last three years, to one law enforcement officer and one mental health crisis commission in the state. Team two has a steering committee comprised of lots of different people. I know a lot of you are here today, steering committee members, and I was going to ask them to stand, but I'm not doing that. I'm just going to point them out, all right, because we'll be able to see them. I see Kate Lamphere over there from HDRS. I see Lieutenant Gary Scott from the Vermont State Police. I see Chief Tony Becos from Love Dealer Police. This is here, the deputy commissioner. I know you're here somewhere. I can stand or sit. This award from Chiefs of Police, sheriffs, emergency services directors, the brass at VSP, from all over the state, and the steering committee takes a look at those and chooses somebody. This year we had an enormous amount of nominations, which is just a really great indication of all the good things that are going on in Vermont. We are doing a lot of things right in terms of responding to mental health crises. So let me start with Lieutenant Maurice Lamar. Why don't you come on up? I'm going to take a look at Lieutenant here in his uniform and turn his stripes. And the reason that he's receiving this award today is because of the day he took it off. Standing with him is Nick Tevitz, who nominated him, Nick as the embedded mental health worker at the St. Albans Barracks, Vermont State Police. There was a day last year where an individual was in a mental health crisis, and a warrant was going to be sought to bring him into a hospital. Franklin County Sheriff's Office was involved as well. And what was known about this individual was that he really didn't like police and that he was armed to the teeth. And if he was in his home, and he had a lot of weapons. And they had to come up with a way to peacefully get this individual out of his home. Franklin County Sheriff's Office was talking about bringing in a tactical unit. You know, the guys and all the equipment and the gear and stuff. That is not really what a person in a mental health crisis would like to see. Lieutenant Lamont sat down with Nick and some other people who were thinking about how to respond to this individual. And he came up with the idea well, if he doesn't like law enforcement officers, how about if I take off my uniform and I go into clean clothes? And for that reason, I call him low because that's really what he goes by. But Lieutenant Lamont, it's just one example of the collaborative effort that he has made working with mental health crisis, working with NCSS up in the St. Albans area that he does on a daily basis. And it is with great pleasure that I'm awarding this Frank Sylphies Senior Award to Lieutenant Maurice Lamont. Just one minute. I didn't raise my hand if that's not me. I just want to take this opportunity to say that this only works because of the collaboration we have with Northwestern Counseling and Sports Services in Nick. This scenario gave only work because of the communication we have with Nick and his expertise. We as troopers bring a lot to the table. We do not bring the mental health aspect of this. Again, we have to rely on his expertise and the expertise of people in this room. And we need to bring this to all of our department's agencies here. So everybody in this room, and that's great and very beneficial, but everybody in this room before me that spoke talked about funding and that's what we need. And we need to get this everywhere and that's how it's going to grow and it's going to benefit everybody. That's all I have. Make this project go everywhere. We have in our barracks it's been almost three years. This is the best thing I've ever seen in my 20 years. We use Nick every day. He's phenomenal. Without him I'm not sure how a lot of these scenarios would go. But we rely heavily on his expertise because I don't have it. Thank you very much. The stories really touched my heart. I wonder if you as a team could write up or to help other counties what you have doesn't happen everywhere. The collaborative effort and understanding that you bring of the necessity of that level of communication and working together and really what you did at the end result was to take that digest it and put it in a way that just keeps us human and involved with each other at the end result that we're human that we need each other and you are beyond looking at the circumstance to the person and putting into exchange of working with them. I would like to see this. I don't know a lot about it. I know in the three minutes that you spoke that I'm impressed beyond measure at that level starting to create a response and we need more of it. I live in the Northeast Kingdom and I would just like to see this. I've not heard it there. There are great people I know everywhere. I think it should be more that we can have the positive part. I'll speak later about the balance of that and certainly incorporate this into other things that I may share but if there's a way that even you do a series let's put something great on the news. I just want to tell you that there are a few police agencies in Vermont that haven't been in workers. Just this morning I heard that Newport police up in your area now has two from the Northeast Kingdom Services Agency. The Vermont State Police is spreading around as well. There are other barracks that have this down place and there are other barracks that are in the works that get in place as well. We started it but we're not the last one to do it. It is growing rapidly. The funding is the issue. Northwest Counseling Support Services pays for Nick. The state police do not pay for Nick. The funding is an issue and that's where we're trying to gain the funding through the people in this building. What I learned from you though is how many dollars are saved by having Nick there we are saving huge amount of police officer dollars. And it goes beyond funding. Funding is one piece which is great. Having something in paper and what it looks like when you put quotes on it is really different. I'm also speaking to the spirit in which not just the letter of the law. Yes. We're glad to talk to you. From Washington County Mental Health we're coming to Talia. This is the thing about Talia receiving this honor is it's a testament to her dedication to being a great screener in that. Not only are her current colleagues here but some of her former colleagues are here today. They've retired and they've come from home to be here today to receive this award. Talia was nominated by her supervisor Karen Curly. She's been a screener for 15 years and she exemplifies collaborative response in these ways. She is always available for police whether it's by telephone or in person. She makes sure that she can go out to a scene and that everybody is aware of what's going on with a particular situation. And one of the situations that the steering committee about in her nomination form was just going and things you don't really think about but death notifications by police when they have to notify a family that a member has died. Talia is a screener who would go with them and sit with a family while the police were explaining what had happened. And that kind of collaborative effort that you may not think about I think really distinguishes Talia from the other mental health screeners and there are countless examples of where she has offered her services working closely together with police agencies within Washington County and I am really, really happy to be able to honor Talia Thomas today. Thank you. See everybody here? This is for Tony. This is for Talia. I'm right here. I'm so excited. She's my leader. I just wanted to say thank you so much Karen. Such an honor and privilege. My job has been humbling and it's an honor to sit at the table with all of my colleagues to work with the various police departments that we work with. So I just want to say thank you. I want to introduce once again someone who I can just introduce. It's always nice. I don't have to give a speech. You all know him. Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman. Award recipients and of course they represent far more people that also do similar good work. Sometimes it's unfair that only a couple people get awards when so many do but those two certainly from what little I know from hearing the presentations certainly deserve them in it. As they were being given I thought about a couple different things. One is I don't know if there's any media here but one of the things when we're advocating for more financial support to broaden programs that are working and so forth one of the ways that we support for that is by all of us messaging out to the rest of the state because when that message comes back into the building to each legislator from their constituents then that starts to become a higher priority in the world of who gets funding and who doesn't or can we raise some more revenues to fund the many things that need funding which is really in my mind our biggest challenge. But what also came to mind is a simple but so important word which is the word trust. When I looked at Lieutenant Lamont if I've got his name right the trust that he had in the other gentleman's name I didn't catch, Nick that he could take his uniform off and I don't know whether he also took off any other protective wares to go into a situation that by any account would be considered frightening to many people and risk himself for that person to not have to be put into a situation that was going to get worse and worse and worse and to not elevate that situation for that individual took an amazing amount of trust on his part as a law enforcement officer who had been trained for many many years on the risks of weapons and circumstances and then the trust of the individual who had never met him before to lay down his arms or her arms I don't really know and hopefully come into a system that should be there to help but it isn't always as helpful as it could be there's trust on so many levels in that situation and I think about our support services for so many who need such support and how the support service personnel and staff in state and non-profit and community organizations are so squeezed financially that we end up with such turnover that the ability to build trust is completely knocked out over and over and over again when the thing that is most needed I would think is stability and trust and so that's all come into my mind in the last 10 minutes while I was just sitting here during those couple presentations and it and I say that as someone to remind all of you or to inform all of you remind those that you know that most of the policy makers know very little of the world that everybody in this room is working and living in and so building a relationship if possible with your legislators and your policy makers is one way to build more advocacy in this building to help those people who are here every day advocating for you but to also work together to advocate for yourselves with the policy makers because that's what's going to elevate it and so our success like we had a couple years ago with some more funding for the workers in this field so that there might be a little more stability and then a little more trust and then hopefully through that fewer instances where a law enforcement officer has to potentially put themselves in a risky situation like that and so that's the interconnectedness of all of this and the importance and stability and I will do my part although it's an interesting part as Lieutenant Governor what you do and don't have much power over but people think I have a lot more power than I do but using the microphone is actually the most powerful position I have but I will continue to use whatever microphones I have to speak out to continue to build support for our communities and that trust and those opportunities for everybody in this room to have each day be a better day than the day that proceeded it so thank you for your time Ableton on Air is sponsored in part by Green Mountain Support Services empowering neighbors with disabilities to be at home in the community Additional support for Ableton on Air is sponsored in part by Washington County Mental Health Services Hope and support come together