Senator Hassan Visits Laconia Elementary School, Discusses Critical Importance of Substance Misuse Prevention and Behavioral Health Programs with District Administrators

Senator Hassan meets with Laconia School District Administrators. 

LACONIA – Senator Maggie Hassan met with Laconia School District Administrators today and visited Pleasant Street School where she discussed the importance of the District’s innovative efforts to prevent substance misuse and address students’ behavioral health and wellness.

“Substance misuse prevention and behavioral health programs in schools are a critically important part of the comprehensive approach we must take to combat the fentanyl, heroin, and opioid crisis,” Senator Hassan said. “Federal grants have allowed Laconia School District to take a truly innovative approach that can serve as a model for others to help students who have been impacted by the opioid crisis and address behavioral health. It is essential that we support these great strides by making a robust federal investment in prevention, treatment, and recovery programs, which is why I will continue to call for increased federal dollars in the budget agreement that’s currently being negotiated to help turn the tide of this epidemic and save lives.”

Laconia School District used Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants to hire mental health clinicians, a drug and alcohol counselor, school based social workers, and a health and wellness coordinator. Laconia students are learning from evidence-based prevention curriculum, have access to group interventions such as Anxiety and Stress Management, and the most at-risk students receive individual, intensive supports.

Earlier this week, Senators Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen held a press conference to announce a Democratic proposal for $25 billion in additional funding to combat the opioid crisis to be included in the budget agreement that is currently being negotiated in Congress. Shaheen and Hassan are calling for this $25 billion investment over two years to go towards programs that support opioid treatment in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Medicare and Medicaid.

###