New Hampshire Health Department Releases Drug And Alcohol Plan

New Hampshire Health Department Releases Drug And Alcohol Plan

My Comment:
Posted April 18, 2011
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Will the Alcohol and Drug Plan for New Hampshire include discriminating against recovering parent’s, court ordering them out of substance abuse treatment in order to regain custody of their children, as it has in the past? Is Medical methadone detox still non-existent in this state, as it was non-existent in 2006 due to budget cut’s, yet parent’s were still court ordered into these non-existent programs and when they couldn’t fulfill the court order, their children were never returned?
Does this program have anything to do with the failed statewide assessment’s of NH DCYF and is this also the reason DCYF refuses to do anything about mother’s using heroin in the presence of their children, stating they have to follow NH RSA’s? Why weren’t they following them before? Why were they taking children from mother’s in methadone treatment and then forcing them out of treatment to regain custody of their children, but were still never returned?
New Hampshire Health Department Releases Drug And Alcohol Plan
By admin | Published April 17, 2011


The Department of Health and Human Services today joined the Governor\’s Commission on Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment, Dartmouth Medical School and the state\’s alcohol and drug service providers in announcing the Alcohol and Drug Plan for New Hampshire at a press conference today.

Overcoming the Impact of Alcohol and Drug Problems is a collaborative, statewide effort to reduce the impact of substance abuse. The plan represents the first comprehensive effort to coordinate all aspects of groups and individuals working on drug and alcohol prevention and treatment.

"Drug and alcohol abuse lead to many of the health and social issues that we deal with on a daily basis," said DHHS Commissioner John Stephen. "Substance abuse is a driving force in a number of the systems that impact all of us, from healthcare to law enforcement and corrections to mental health, and the cost to the taxpayers is staggering. We needed a plan to address these issues, one that encompasses the recommendations from all areas and walks of life, and that\’s just what this plan does.

The plan incorporates a number of recommendations to coordinate the efforts of State, local, community, religious and education groups, as well as employers to prevent and treat alcohol and drug misuse. The plan also focuses on addressing substance abuse, physical health and mental health in an integrated way and not the disjointed way that often takes place in service delivery today.

"I have been working on the problems associated with substance use for over 30 years and this is the first time that the State as a whole not just a single Department will have a guiding document in tackling substance use problems," added Joe Diament, Chairman of the Governor\’s Commission on Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment. "I am pleased that The Governor\’s Commission played one of the leading roles in developing this Plan because the Commission too is representative of the State as a whole not any one Department."

"This plan represents a step forward in our efforts to address an issue we know is both treatable and preventable, and one that takes many voices to address," remarked Tym Rourke, President of the New Hampshire Alcohol and Drug Service Providers Association. "The youth and families in New Hampshire have been waiting for a way to address the problem of addiction, and with this roadmap we are well on our way."

"Dartmouth Medical School and the Department of Psychiatry have actively participated as a partner in this Substance Abuse Plan Development for the state of NH because it realizes both how serious the substance abuse problem is as well as the fact that there are interventions to address this problem that need to be implemented across the state," stated Paul Gorman, CEO at West Central Services and a member of the Board at Dartmouth Medical School. "Dartmouth Medical School looks forward to working with the other partners in the process of developing a plan of implementation for the state\’s service structure."

Another comment sent to me waiting to be moderated on the above site.

Gee I was under the belief that John Stephen hasn't been DHHS commissioner for approximately the past 5 yrs and that Nic Toumpas has been commissioner since at least 2008. I'm really surprised that John Stepen has been actively working for drug and alcohol programs for the past 30 yrs as I know of a young mother who was a recovering substance abuser back in 2005, during John Stephen's "reign" a DHHS Commissioner, This young mother who was already completely drug free for over 3 months when she was court ordered into a methadone medical detox program by Judge Tenney. There was no such medical methadone detox program in the state of NH at that time, due to state budget cuts, which were enacted Mr John Stephen himself! Gee what a coincidence.....And WHY would a young mother be court ordered into a detox AFTER being completely clean of illegal drugs? This makes no sense, except for the fact that NH DHHS's satellite company known as DCYF used substance abuse as their reason for taking the baby from this young mother 9 months later.....Guess there had to be money to be made and this young mother was the perfect target, eh? It's amazing to think that DCYF, the satellite for profit company of DHHS, would take a child from a mother who had already been drug free for 3 months, and insist that this drug free mom be mandated to use methadone and then she was court ordered to be off methadone treatment 2 to 3 months later which I believe is in violation of methadone treatment and in volaton of this mother's rights....and then this mother has her baby taken away by DCYF because this same mother was given iv morphine during labor and her baby then tested positive for morphine upon birth! Thank you so much John Stephen for helping DCYF to wreck the life of this young mother and her baby! Great job of destroying yet another family...