The DraftKings Sportsbook & Casino app. File photo by Shaun Robinson/VTDigger
When Vermont legalized sports betting in 2023, it established the Problem Gambling Program, which tasked the state Department of Mental Health with expanding resources and support for those with problem gambling issues.
As part of this effort, the department is rolling out a free 30-hour program to train the state’s mental health clinicians.
“Because this is a new product and offering within the state of Vermont, we wanted to make sure that our mental health clinicians and providers were equipped and educated,” said Chris Allen, the Department of Mental Health’s director of suicide prevention.
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The training, which will begin on Jan. 13 and run for 10 weeks in live, virtual sessions, is part of a larger-statewide push to build up the appropriate resources to address problem gambling. State lawmakers allocated $500,000 for the department to use in 2025 for problem gambling programs. The money comes through an agreement with the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery, which receives a portion of the revenue the licensed sports betting operators earn in the state.
In 2024, the Department of Mental Health spent $34,814 out of that fiscal year’s allocated $250,000. Of that, $5,000 went to the training program, as it got off the ground. For fiscal year 2025, the department spent $20,000 on the training program and used nearly the full allocation on the range of its support programs, outreach and staffing for them, a department spokesperson confirmed.
Allen hopes that the training can make more of Vermont’s mental health clinicians eligible to receive referrals on the Vermont Gambling Help website or help them identify and respond to earlier signs of problem gambling in their patients.
Only 14 providers in the state hold a certificate as a Vermont problem gambling specialist. However, the Department of Mental Health estimates that more than 11,600 Vermonters struggle with problem gambling, citing a national survey from 2021, even before legal online sports betting had begun in Vermont.
He hopes the state will be able to collect better demographic data on how many and which subsets of Vermonters are experiencing sports betting addiction.
Allen knows that for many people, problem gambling issues compound with other mental health challenges — things like suicidal ideation, substance use disorders and general anxiety around debt.
The training aims to cover these co-occurring challenges, the ethics and fundamentals of gambling issues, as well as strategies to ameliorate the harms of addiction. Allen added that he is particularly glad the training includes a section on techniques for reducing harm, rather than only exploring cold-turkey quitting.
“Abstinence might not be an option for everyone,” he said. “We want to offer this and train clinicians to be proficient in talking through how to moderate a client’s gambling use.”
Private practitioners and staff at the state’s designated mental health agencies are eligible to participate in the training — the registration for which is now open. Upon completing the free training, clinicians receive 30 continuing education credits, almost meeting the annual requirement to maintain professional licensure as a clinical mental health counselor in Vermont. For some, the expense and time commitment of continuing education courses can be a barrier to full licensure.
The completion of the 30-hour course is a key component of qualifying for the state’s formal specialist certification.
The training is just one piece of a larger scope of support initiatives the Department of Mental Health has spearheaded, including the telephone helpline, live online chat, peer support specialists and a voluntary self-exclusion program, where people can opt in to restrict themselves from online sports betting.