The Burlington Free Press and Vermont Public Television report that the New England Autism Center, also known as Ellie's Place, is a nonprofit that "coordinates social and recreational opportunities for teens and young adults with Autism, including a three-week summer day camp experience in Chittenden County." The Center also organizes year-round bowling excursions at Yankee Lanes in Colchester on Friday afternoons. Ultimately, the organization hopes to "expand Ellie's Place into a group home, with on-site vocational training and opportunities available for  individuals with autism as they enter adulthood."

Link to Burlington Free Press article

Link to Vermont Public Television piece

Vermont Public Radio reports that the Vermont Association for Mental Health, a mental health advocacy group, "is calling on doctors and hospitals to reject gifts from the pharmaceutical industry" because they believe those gifts "create a conflict of interest that could compromise patient care." Notably according to the attorney general's office, "health care providers were paid about $2.25 million in 2006" from drug companies. "Psychiatrists were the specialists who got the most from drug companies" and "eleven psychiatrists received a total of $502,000."

Currently, the state "has a strict disclosure law that requires drug companies to report when they make payments of $25 or more to physicians." This law "exempts free samples and payments for clinical research trials" and requires companies to "disclose lecture fees, free meals, travel, and other perks."

Some of Vermont's health care organizations "have already taken steps to limit drug company payments." For example, "the University of Vermont Medical School unveiled a new policy last year that bans financial gifts to student and faculty." The UVM policy also prohibits student and faculty from accepting "pens and notepads that are frequently handed out by drug company reps." Fletcher Allen Health Care - the state's largest hospital - has similar rules in place [but] does allow drug companies to fund education conferences through unrestricted grants." Finally, "the Vermont Psychiatric Association is finalizing a policy that advises doctors against accepting gifts and payments."

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The Bennington Banner reports that the "state government spent nearly $10 million providing psychiatric drugs to more than 6,000 children in a six-month period last year, in a mental health system that an advocacy group on Wednesday labeled 'out of control.'"  According to Ken Libertoff, executive director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health, "Drugs have greatly replaced clinical interventions and counseling in the world of children's mental health" and this environment needs to change in Vermont. 

In response, "both Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hartman and Joshua Slen, director of the state Office of Health Access, agreed that the use of psychiatric prescription drugs with Vermonters under 18 is a cause for concern." Hartman also disputed Libertoff's assertion that, 'Many if not most of these medications [prescribed to children] have never been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of children and adolescents."

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The Bennington Banner reports that Mount Anthony Union (MAU) High School officials are "alarmed" by the results of the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey which reveal that "nearly one in four [MAU] students have felt so 'sad and hopeless that it affected daily life." In addition, "10 percent have thought about suicide." The survey also found that "students in the Southwestern Vermont Supervisory Union were deemed unmanageable and removed from their homes at three times the statewide average, which is 32.6 per 10,000 students." The survey also revealed a disturbing trend around prescription drug abuse: One out of five kids reported using prescription drugs for recreational purposes.

Notably since 2004, MAU has "expanded its staff to include three school based clinicians, who are licensed social workers, a school social worker and a student assistant councilor." In addition, "mentioning programs have been spurred and special events organized with local organizations are beginning to unfold." According to school based clinician Kristyn Harrington, MAU's goal "is to get community members, young people and adults, talking more."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "Vermont lawmakers are considering a bill that would tune up the state's mental health parity law." The law, which was passed ten years ago, was "designed to make sure health insurers cover illnesses of the mind to an equal degree as those of the body." Lawmakers have begun to question, however, "how well the parity law is being implemented." Indeed according to lawmakers, "major health insurers in the state have 'carved out,' or subcontracted the management of mental health insurance claims, sometimes to out-of-state companies." The bill, if passed, would "give the state's Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration new authority to regulate the health insurance industry."

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