Senate Passes Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Treatment and Prevention Act
Contact Name: Marina Altschiller
Phone: (603) 271-3375
CONCORD – Today, the Senate passed SB 444, also known as the ACEs Treatment and Prevention Act. This legislation builds on the many years of work to improve the children’s mental health system in the state, and will help us identify solutions to better support New Hampshire’s youngest children. The bill will next go before the House for a public committee hearing.
After the vote, prime sponsor Senator Becky Whitley (D-Hopkinton) issued the following statement:
“I am deeply grateful to my colleagues for their support of this critical bill. Over the past several years, the Legislature has passed historic reforms to the children’s mental health system in New Hampshire. This bill represents a missing piece to the system of care and builds on that work by moving it upstream and shifting our focus to preventing crises before they happen.
During the pandemic, children and families across the state experienced enormous adversity and disruption. But we know that high-quality, evidence-based early intervention has been shown to be more cost effective and have greater societal impact than waiting until there is a crisis to intervene. This bill will support prevention and early intervention goals by ensuring that evidence-based, trauma-informed services are embedded in our system of care for at-risk children, our most vulnerable and precious population.”
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