Andy Bean is a senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover. This opinion piece was written as part of a campaign project for the class “Writing and Speaking for Public Policy.”
Both smoke detectors and fire extinguishers are essential to stopping a fire. In creating the new Hampstead Hospital site, however, Governor Sununu leans too heavily on the extinguishers.
The proposed $21.6 million mental health facility would treat children who are entering the juvenile justice system because of behavioral issues. Is it truly the best we can do to provide care only after a child has ended up in prison and the blaze has started? Children in the justice system deserve mental health services, but New Hampshire should put funds towards mental health services right in schools as well. This strategy would provide care earlier, avoiding the financial and emotional costs of more intensive care down the road.
There is even a model to follow: school-based health centers. These centers expand the school nurse’s office to include professional counseling services and have proved their worth in other states. In Oregon, for example, teens were up to 20 times more likely to access mental health care when it was available in school-based centers, and these services decreased discipline referrals from behavioral issues by 65%.
Because kids can go to their appointments right in school, they also miss less class time. This means students in schools with health centers have improved GPAs and attendance, increased school connectedness, and decreased suspensions. School-based health centers can serve as smoke detectors before a fire starts. Let’s put preventative measures first and keep New Hampshire’s kids happy and healthy in their schools.