Observe: This story contains point out of self-harm and suicidal ideation. When you or a liked one is in disaster, contact the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline or New Hampshire’s Fast Response Entry Level for assist.
In his 17 years on the Nashua Police Division, Lt. Charles MacGregor has misplaced depend of how typically he’s heard the chorus: “I didn’t know who else to name.”
MacGregor is aware of police aren’t the fitting match for each name that comes their means, particularly when persons are experiencing a psychological well being disaster.
However in New Hampshire, longstanding gaps within the state’s psychological well being system have meant police are sometimes the de facto first responders when somebody’s in disaster. At occasions, that has meant those that want therapy don’t get the assistance they want, as a substitute dealing with arrest or different dire penalties. An investigation from the Harmony Monitor final 12 months discovered deadly police shootings in New Hampshire disproportionately concerned folks with psychological sickness. Interactions with regulation enforcement can even carry heightened danger for folks of shade or marginalized communities which have traditionally confronted police bias and violence.
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These gaps in New Hampshire’s psychological well being system have additionally led many hospital emergency rooms to function the primary line of therapy for individuals who find yourself ready days or even weeks for extra acceptable care.
At the beginning of this 12 months, although, New Hampshire started to radically reshape the way it handles these sorts of emergency calls — with the objective of creating it simpler for folks in disaster to get the assistance they want.
Since January, Granite Staters have been capable of attain out to New Hampshire’s Fast Response Entry Level, by calling or texting 1-833-710-6477 or beginning a web-based chat by means of this web site. A substitute for the 911 system, the service is supposed to assist join folks with native assets, like a follow-up appointment with a neighborhood clinician or a cell disaster workforce of psychological well being employees that may meet them in particular person.
Getting this new system underway has required plenty of work from state officers, psychological well being employees, police and individuals who have skilled psychological well being challenges firsthand. However all of the whereas, they’ve additionally been getting ready for an additional massive change that’s anticipated to ship extra calls into this technique: Beginning this Saturday, the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline will now have its personal three-digit quantity, 988. As a part of that change, most individuals with a 603 space code who textual content or name 988 can be routed to the state’s new Fast Response Entry Level.
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Whereas New Hampshire is farther alongside than many different states in constructing this new infrastructure for dealing with psychological well being emergencies, it’s nonetheless a piece in progress. As with all advanced system of this type, each the folks utilizing the service and people attempting to make it work behind the scenes have reported some rising pains because the new system first launched: inconsistent response occasions, sometimes unhelpful interactions with dispatchers and extra. And the officers in command of making this all work acknowledge they’re nonetheless figuring all of it out, and attempting to be receptive to those considerations.
“You may each have fun that we now have a greater system than we did and say it isn’t ok,” mentioned Jenny O’Higgins, who has been overseeing the rollout of those new programs with New Hampshire’s Division of Behavioral Well being.
Fast Response Entry Level customers report combined experiences with the brand new system
When Joshua, whose final identify NHPR agreed to not share to guard his privateness, first known as New Hampshire’s Fast Response Entry Level in February, he felt like he’d lastly discovered a disaster service that labored for him. Previously, he mentioned a name to a different hotline resulted in a traumatizing interplay with native police. However on this case, two psychological well being disaster employees confirmed up at his house inside about quarter-hour.
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“I did not really feel like they had been interrogating me,” Joshua mentioned. “It was similar to a dialog about how I used to be doing.”
The state’s new psychological well being hotline has helped to ship psychological well being employees immediately into the neighborhood for these sorts of conversations greater than 2,800 occasions between January and Might, in accordance with knowledge shared by state officers. In that very same time, the disaster line acquired over 11,000 chats, texts and calls. These numbers are anticipated to extend considerably as the brand new 988 suicide prevention line turns into extra extensively used.
However Joshua and others mentioned there’s nonetheless work to be achieved to enhance their experiences once they ask for assist.
When Joshua known as the disaster line once more a number of weeks in the past, he mentioned the dispatcher appeared fixated on his id quite than the substance of the disaster that prompted him to name for assist. To Joshua, who’s trans, it felt just like the particular person was attempting to “educate himself on what being trans is.”
Later in the identical name, Joshua mentioned he instructed the dispatcher he was having urges to self-harm, to which the dispatcher replied that he’d by no means come throughout a “man who reduce himself.” Maybe on a greater day, Joshua thought, the feedback would have been simpler to brush off — however on the time, he wasn’t in a great place.
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“Being trans, that made me really feel like I used to be lower than a person,” Joshua mentioned.
That type of interplay, at a second of intense vulnerability, ran counter to the said targets of the service: to make folks really feel supported once they’re in disaster. It additionally made Joshua extra nervous to name the hotline once more — however as a result of his first expertise was so constructive, he mentioned he would nonetheless think about it.
A consultant for Beacon Well being Providers, the corporate that runs New Hampshire’s digital name heart for its psychological well being hotline, mentioned they take fairness and coaching critically.
“We’d by no means need somebody to have that type of expertise,” Wendy Martinez-Farmer mentioned, when requested about Joshua’s name, including that the corporate would wish to look into what went unsuitable.
Joshua’s not the one one who’s had less-than-encouraging interactions with the state’s new system.
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Rebecca Bennett, of Harmony, mentioned she known as the Fast Response Entry Level when her son expressed threats of violence and suicidal ideation. She remembers being instructed a cell disaster workforce could be deployed, however nobody ever confirmed up.
Nonetheless, others have had extra constructive experiences. One other lady, who requested NHPR to not share her identify publicly, mentioned she and her daughter have known as the road virtually two dozen occasions and have acquired invaluable help each over the cellphone and in particular person. She credited the Fast Response Entry Level with serving to her daughter to just accept substance misuse therapy and enroll in state medical health insurance.
O’Higgins, the state official overseeing the implementation of this new system, mentioned she welcomes this sort of real-world suggestions and mentioned folks can e-mail her workforce immediately at DBHCrisisTransformation@dhhs.nh.gov.
“I do not suppose anybody can construct this with out these voices,” O’Higgins mentioned.
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N.H.’s psychological well being disaster response is beginning to transfer away from regulation enforcement
This shift in how New Hampshire handles emergency requires psychological well being assist has additionally required native police to regulate their method.
Traditionally, police have performed a job in quite a lot of incidents that decision for psychological well being help: whether or not somebody in disaster may name 911 to ask for assist, or whether or not regulation enforcement are known as in for different conditions, like these involving home violence or overdoses, the place the events concerned want psychological well being help.
However whether or not exterior psychological well being companies are known as in to assist with these incidents is determined by plenty of various factors — and many judgment calls from dispatchers and regulation enforcement. For instance, if dispatchers imagine a 911 name entails a scenario that’s more likely to flip violent, or somebody concerned has entry to weapons, they may steer the decision towards police as a substitute of a psychological well being workforce. Totally different police departments even have totally different insurance policies on when to usher in psychological well being help.
“Will probably be an evolution,” mentioned Mark Doyle, who has been engaged on this transition with the state Division of Security for over a 12 months.
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On the identical time, Doyle and others engaged on this transition mentioned they’re additionally attempting to beat skepticism from some regulation enforcement officers who may not but belief this fledgling psychological well being emergency system to deal with calls which have lengthy been their duty.
Sgt. Emmett Macken, of the Manchester Police Division, can relate to that feeling. His division began attempting to work extra intently with native psychological well being professionals 5 years in the past, lengthy earlier than the statewide transition started.
“I needed no a part of this on the outset,” he mentioned.
Patricia Carty, CEO of the Psychological Well being Middle of Larger Manchester, mentioned constructing belief between her workers and native regulation enforcement took time. The primary night time town tried out this new partnership, she recalled, law enforcement officials and psychological well being employees did not sit in the identical room collectively.
“It was essentially the most uncomfortable six hours,” Carty mentioned.
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Some workers from the Psychological Well being Middle of Larger Manchester.
However as time went on, Macken and Carty mentioned their groups got here to understand how this partnership has improved public belief and helped Manchester residents get linked with the assets they want.
As Macken and state officers attempt to encourage police departments throughout New Hampshire to undertake an analogous mindset, they’ve heard from some officers who discovered the brand new system inefficient. In some instances, officers mentioned police described getting caught on the cellphone answering what, to them, felt like an unnecessarily lengthy checklist of questions from the dispatcher on the opposite facet, who was attempting to completely triage the scenario.
State officers mentioned they’re attempting to verify this course of works extra easily for everybody, together with regulation enforcement.
O’Higgins, with the New Hampshire Division of Behavioral Well being, mentioned the state has taken steps to keep away from this sort of redundancy. Now, she mentioned, officers who name the disaster line and establish as a primary responder could make a right away request for a cell disaster workforce, quite than sitting by means of extra questioning.
Elsewhere, Nashua Police Division Lt. Charles MacGregor mentioned his officers have additionally run into different challenges with the brand new system. In some instances, he mentioned, they’ve assured folks in disaster that psychological well being employees had been on their means, solely to be taught that the workforce wasn’t truly out there on account of staffing shortages or different limitations.
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MacGregor is aware of these hurdles don’t have a easy resolution. However he’s advocated for higher communication so officers within the area are conscious of what assets are and aren’t out there.
“It’s getting higher,” he mentioned.
O’Higgins mentioned state officers understand this technique hasn’t been completely clean for regulation enforcement, however she hopes these early issues gained’t dissuade whole departments from making use of the Fast Response Entry Level.
“When one thing would not go as deliberate, let’s repair it collectively,” she mentioned, “However do not by no means name once more.”
When you or somebody you already know may be occupied with suicide, contact the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Laborious of Listening to: 1-800-799-4889). Beginning July 16, you too can contact the hotline by calling or texting 988. You can too get psychological well being help by calling or texting New Hampshire’s Fast Response Entry Level at 833-710-6477.
ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) — A strong second half powered the UAlbany women’s basketball team to their third conference victory in as many contests on Thursday night.
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: “To start the game, New Hampshire had great defensive intensity and pace. Once we settled in and started moving the ball, we were able to capitalize with our inside-out game. In the second half, we had solid offensive execution and grinded out multiple defensive stops. This was a great team win on both ends.”
KEY STATS
Graduate student Kayla Cooper led the team with 20 points, six rebounds, three steals, and three assists while shooting over 50% from the field.
Fellow graduate student Jessica Tomasetti followed with nine points and five rebounds. The point guard also shot 50% from the field.
Junior Gabriela Falcao tallied a team-high two blocks.
As a team, the Great Danes totaled nine steals with 19 points off turnovers.
The UAlbany defense did not allow any singular Wildcat to surpass seven points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Graduate student Lilly Phillips scored the first basket of the game after a combined four scoreless possessions.
That defensive nature continued throughout the rest of the half.
New Hampshire gained a 9-5 lead within four minutes of action but the Great Danes quickly answered to tie the score in the next two minutes.
UAlbany ended the quarter with a one-possession advantage, 14-11.
Throughout the second quarter, the Great Danes allowed just two field goals for five Wildcat points.
Four different Great Danes scored in a defensive quarter to make it a 24-16 game at halftime.
The second half was a different game – UAlbany nearly doubled its score from the first half in the third quarter alone.
The Great Danes began the third with a 12-2 scoring run. Ten of those points were scored in just two minutes and 23 seconds.
Kayla Cooper and Jessica Tomasetti combined to score 10 additional points and close the third quarter with a 22-point advantage, 46-24.
Cooper and Tomasetti scored all but three of the 22 points in the third quarter. Cooper tallied 12 alone.
Following two fourth-quarter layups from senior Laycee Drake and Phillips, the Great Danes held a 26-point lead.
UAlbany continued to extend their lead throughout the next seven minutes of action. The largest lead of the contest came with 1:24 left – 29 points (59-30).
The Wildcats got the final say to make it a 27-point decision, 59-32.
NEXT: The Great Danes will close out the week at home against Maine on Saturday (Jan. 11).
Gov. Kelly Ayotte used her first speech as New Hampshire’s 83rd chief executive Thursday to call for “common-sense cooperation” as the state tackles issues ranging from housing, to education, to the state budget.
In her roughly 45-minute long inaugural address, Ayotte simultaneously lauded New Hampshire as a model for the rest of the nation, but warned that pressing concerns — financial and otherwise — would require policymakers to make difficult decisions in the coming months.
You can watch Ayotte’s full inauguration speech here.
“I could not be more optimistic about our future, but at the same time we have real challenges that we have to take head on, if we want to keep our state moving in the right direction,” Ayotte told a crowd in the State House’s Representatives Hall that included current lawmakers and state officials, as well as several former governors, congressmen, and other political veterans.
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“Whenever we talk about cuts, just like a family making hard decisions, there are things we can’t skimp on: protecting our most vulnerable and serving those most in need.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, forecasting upcoming state budget negotiations
Ayotte said she’s proud the state ranks high in categories including freedom, public safety, and taxpayer return on investment, but said slowing tax collections and the end of billions of dollars of federal aid dictates that the state “recalibrate” its spending.
“Whenever we talk about cuts, just like a family making hard decisions, there are things we can’t skimp on: protecting our most vulnerable and serving those most in need,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte’s speech was light on specifics — she called for few clear policy initiatives or spending cuts — but she did announce one new state initiative: a Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE, to help identify ways to spend less state money. The committee will be led by former Gov. Craig Benson, who nominated Ayotte to be New Hampshire attorney general in 2004, and businessman Andrew Crews, a longtime political donor to Ayotte.
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Ayotte told the Democratic leaders of the New Hampshire House and Senate that her door would always be open to them. She meanwhile asked GOP legislative leaders to “marshal our Republican majorities over the next two years to deliver on the promises we made to keep our state moving in the right direction.”
Ayotte called public safety her “absolute top priority” and said she expected Republicans to pass a ban this year on so-called sanctuary policies, which aim to protect undocumented immigrants from criminal penalties. She also said the state needs to further tighten its bail policies, and boost police retirement benefits to make it easier to recruit officers and keep them on the job.
She identified housing as another top issue and said the state needs to “get serious” by modeling good behavior to cities and towns, by enforcing a 60-day turnaround on state permits for new housing projects. She also promised to “strengthen new and existing partnerships” between the state, cities and towns and the private sector to get new housing units built.
Ayotte also highlighted education, and said while New Hampshire’s current rate of pupil spending was “wonderful,” lawmakers need to “keep it up” while simultaneously expanding the state’s voucher-like school choice program. Ayotte also promised to ensure students can learn and teachers can teach without distraction by banning cell phones in the classroom.
On other issues, Ayotte promised to expand the state’s ranks of mental health providers, strengthen anti-suicide efforts, oppose a controversial landfill proposal in the town of Dalton, and veto any new abortion restrictions.
More digs at Massachusetts — but also a welcome
After framing her gubernatorial campaign last year as a rebuke of Massachusetts, Ayotte also used her inaugural address as another chance to take digs at the Granite State’s southern neighbor.
Ayotte criticized policymakers there for what she described as out-of-control spending, tax hikes, and lax immigration policies. But she did say New Hampshire welcomes Massachusetts residents as shoppers and visitors.
One of Ayotte’s biggest applause lines was addressed to Bay State business leaders.
“To the businesses of Massachusetts: We’d love to have you bring your talents to the Granite State,” she said. “We’re happy to show you why it’s better here.”
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Ayotte extended a similar invitation to Canadian businesses, saying they would be especially welcome in New Hampshire’s North Country.
Lawmakers say they’re ready to get to work
Lawmakers past and present attended Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s inauguration.
Republicans in both legislative chambers will enjoy sizable majorities this session, and the party’s leaders say they’re ready to use those numbers to advance the policy goals Ayotte laid out Thursday.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne praised the governor’s speech and said that along with the expansion of Education Freedom Accounts, his caucus will focus on “addressing issues of affordability across all sectors: housing, healthcare, electricity, you name it.”
He expressed optimism about Ayotte’s proposed COGE initiative to make government more efficient, but acknowledged that trimming the state budget could cause tension as lawmakers seek to protect their favorite programs.
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“Everything we do is someone’s favorite pet project, so we’ve got to figure out who is going to get sent to the chopping block,” he said.
Osborne added that while his majorities are larger this session than last term’s near evenly split House makeup, he knows there will be disagreement within his own caucus.
“The more willing that we are to let people do their own thing, for things that are important to them, the more we’re going to be able to band together and get things done together, as well,” he said.
Sen. James Gray, a Republican from Rochester who leads the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters it was too early in the budgeting process to forecast where the state may trim to balance its books. He said he plans to work with Ayotte to advance her campaign promises.
With a 40-seat disadvantage, House Democrats will have little ability to set the legislative agenda this session, but Minority Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter said she was grateful that Ayotte expressed a willingness to work across the aisle. She said Democrats would focus on ensuring any budget reductions don’t end up harming the state’s neediest residents.
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“We feel these budget cuts at the state level will lead to higher costs at the local level, so we’re really working on making sure the vulnerable populations that Gov. Ayotte spoke about really are protected in this budget,” Simpson said.
Simpson also said she hoped for bipartisan collaboration on housing, mental health services and other issues.
Notable political faces fill the room
Gov. Chris Sununu attends the inauguration of his successor, Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
Thursday’s inauguration ceremony brought out a crowd of high profile political figures in the state, past and present.
Outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu received a sustained round of applause when he entered Representatives Hall, and was again thanked by Ayotte during her speech for his eight years of service to the state.
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Others present included former Congressman Charlie Bass and Scott Brown, a former U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts and ambassador to New Zealand, who was also New Hampshire’s 2014 Republican U.S. Senate nominee. Also in attendance was former Gov. Maggie Hassan, who now serves in the U.S. Senate after unseating Ayotte in 2016.
Former Gov. Craig Benson was seated in the chamber, as was Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who entered the room to cheers.
Four of the five justices on the New Hampshire Supreme Court were in attendance, as were federal judges for the District of New Hampshire. New Hampshire Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald swore in Ayotte, while she was flanked by her husband and two children.
Members of the Executive Council were also sworn in during Thursday’s proceedings.
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte will deliver an inaugural speech Thursday in which she is expected to project a message of post-election unity.
Ayotte, a Republican, is expected to emphasize her desire to get to work for all Granite Staters regardless of party affiliation.
“You have my word that each and every day I will work on your behalf to do what’s best for all of us. For all of New Hampshire,” she’ll say, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks that her team shared with The Boston Globe.
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Ayotte is expected to say New Hampshire needs to “get serious about housing production” in light of the current “crisis” around the constrained supply of homes. She’s expected to voice support for expanding the state’s Education Freedom Account program. And she’s planning to laud the budgetary approach state leaders have taken in recent years, including the elimination of the interest and dividends tax.
“New Hampshire is a wonderful, beautiful state,” she’ll say. “And protecting what makes us unique is so much more important than one person or one party. … I could not be more optimistic about our shared future.”
Inauguration Day ceremonies are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m., with a livestream available.
Do you know Kelly Ayotte’s background? Here are 10 facts, including a few you may have missed.
As she takes office, Ayotte’s allies and foes will be watching closely, including to see how her policy positions play out in these six areas.
The festivities around Ayotte taking office include a first inaugural ball on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Omni Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, and a second inaugural ball on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Manchester. Tickets to both events are sold out, though a waitlist is available.
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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
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