Brattleboro Multi-Agency Coalition Awarded $1.1 Million Federal Grant to Expand Substance Use and Co-Occurring Disorder Services
by Jillian Williams // October 29, 2025
Brattleboro, VT – A multi-agency coalition in Brattleboro has been awarded $375,000 annual federal grant for three years to expand substance use and co-occurring disorder (COD) services in the region. The funding comes from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Targeted Capacity Expansion: Special Projects (Federal Opportunity Number TI-25-002).
The grant will support Healthworks ACT (assertive community treatment), a collaborative initiative that unites Brattleboro Retreat, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH), Groundworks Collaborative, and Health Care & Rehabilitation Services of Southeastern Vermont (HCRS) in the Healthworks ACT, LLC structure. Together, the coalition provides outreach services and support for people who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness in a comprehensive approach to screening, treatment, peer support, primary care, and case management for individuals facing substance use and co-occurring disorders.
“I am more proud of this program than nearly anything in my 20+ year career,” said Kurt White, from Brattleboro Retreat, who is on the Healthworks ACT Steering Committee. “This is a true example of a community coming together to meet the needs of residents in some of the most vulnerable situations and to do so in a best-practice, evidence-based manner.”
The Healthworks ACT program provides services in an intensive outreach model that is “fidelity-based”, meaning that it is scored for adherence to a specific way of operating. An interdisciplinary staff maintains specific ratios of staff to participants as they actively provide services via outreach in various community settings. Brattleboro’s program follows the evidence-based TMACT (Tool for Measuring Assertive Community Treatment) fidelity model and adds much-needed and ongoing primary care services.
“This program has become a missing link for many people in our community who were falling through the cracks,” says Rebecca Burns, RN, from Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and current chair of the Healthworks ACT Steering Committee.
Healthworks ACT has been operating on grant funding, primarily from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), since its inception in 2023. This funding award will help address some urgent upcoming funding gaps, as well as strengthen the coalition’s integrated services, ensure co-located program staff operate seamlessly, and expand access to coordinated care for individuals across southeastern Vermont.
“While this grant award does not completely fill our funding need, it gives us crucial time to work with our State partners and stakeholders to find a path to sustainability,” says George Karabakakis, Ph.D., CEO at HCRS, who is currently serving as Chair of the Healthworks ACT LLC managing board. “We are confident that this set of services will be part of the long-term solution to the crisis of unmet medical, mental health, and substance use treatment needs among those with housing challenges in our community.”
