Vermont State Police gets mental health programs director

Abstract

The Vermont State Police has its first director of mental health programs to help coordinate and oversee the delivery of mental health services to people who come into contact with state police, The Associated Press reported Sept. 20. Mourning Fox, who was deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Mental Health for the last four years and has more than 25 years of experience in the field, was named to the position, the Department of Public Safety and the Vermont State Police announced last week. Fox, who joined the department on Aug. 30, will work with the state police's 10 barracks and the Department of Mental Health to complete hiring. He will also ensure each field station has at least one embedded mental health crisis specialist and that training is consistent, officials said. In the long term, he will help the Department of Public Safety reimagine how police provide services to people who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis, or who have other unmet social service needs, officials said. “There are many models of alternative response to these types of issues under development around the nation and the world, and each model has its own usefulness,” Fox wrote in a statement.