FILE - Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is shown at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Washington. President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress as the U.S. overdose death toll hit a new record of nearly 107,000 during the past 12 months. White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta says the strategy is the first to prioritize what’s known as harm reduction. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

MANCHESTER – At 1:4 p.m. today, U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) will participate in a roundtable with Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta to discuss substance use prevention and treatment efforts in New Hampshire. The Laconia Police Department will be providing an overview of their Prevention, Enforcement and Treatment (PET) program and the Manchester Police Department will present updates on the Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team (ACERT) Enhancement Project, which provides services to children exposed to trauma, including substance use, domestic violence and sexual assault. The New Hampshire Department of Justice received a $4.6 million U.S. DOJ Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program (COSSAP) grant to expand the model to other communities. Senators Shaheen and Hassan sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice in support of their application, and Senator Hassan brought as her 2020 State of the Union Guest Officer Eric Adams, who started the PET program.

Shaheen and Hassan have led efforts in Congress to combat the substance use disorder epidemic and support affected families. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shaheen fought to secure $750,000 for the enhancement of ACERT infrastructure and training resources for law enforcement and first responders in the fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding legislation that was signed into law in March. Shaheen previously introduced the National ACERT Grant Program Authorization Act, which would provide federal resources for communities to address adverse childhood experiences associated with exposure to trauma.

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