Police have new tool to help kids, families

LACONIA — Beginning next month, police will have a new tool for helping children caught up in traumatic situations like domestic abuse or a drug overdose in their family.

The Family Resource Center at Lakes Region Community Services and the Laconia Police Department will work to provide services to these children in a program called Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team, or ACERT.

Police officers who go to traumatic calls involving children will present a form to the parents to see if they wish to participate in the program. If they do, they will be contacted so their children can get the care and support they need.

Eric Adams, the prevention, enforcement and treatment officer for the police department, said he thinks many families will take advantage of these services, which could include counseling and extra support at school.

“We are trying to help the family and trying to help the children,” he said. “It isn’t about trying to take kids away, or putting more of a burden on the family. It’s about developing better relationships with the family and making sure that every child has the same opportunity.”

He said children are often front and center when there is a family emergency.

In some overdose situations, it is a child who calls 9-1-1.

“That’s traumatizing,” Adams said. “Even if it is not an overdose, it could be a heart attack or a diabetic reaction, it is still a good opportunity to help the parents. Maybe they are hospitalized and it’s a good opportunity to build relationships with the children.”

The program can also disrupt the generational aspect of substance abuse in which children model the behavior of parents and end up with their own dependency problems.

“Sometimes we even hear about parents using with their kids as they get older,” Adams said. “It’s the nature of the beast. This is another tool in the tool belt for police officers.”

Erin Pettengill, vice president of the Family Resource Center, said it is essential to reach children early after they experience trauma. Physical, emotional and mental well-being may be at stake. 

Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, can have lasting impacts on young people, including risky behaviors and chronic health conditions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the number of ACEs increase, so does the risk for bad health outcomes.

“ACEs can be mitigated if we catch it in a timely matter and can support children,” she said.

The program can make contact with the child’s school, which has counselors and social workers available who can lend assistance.

The Manchester Police Department began such a program in 2014 and it serves as the model for the Laconia effort.

According to a two-year survey conducted and released last year by the Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, 23.4 percent of New Hampshire children have been impacted by a traumatic event.

These events could include emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, a mother who is treated violently, substance abuse, mental illness in the household, parental separation or divorce, an incarcerated household member, emotional neglect and physical neglect.