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Bill

SB 238

establishing the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) prevention and treatment program and making an appropriation to the department of health and human services for this purpose.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Denise Ricciardi

New Hampshire bill to create state-funded ACEs prevention and treatment program was deemed inexpedient to legislate in November 2025, effectively ending consideration.

Inexpedient to Legislate, Senate Rule 3-23, 10/31/2025; SJ 1
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Bill Summary · SB 238

Legislative bill overview

SB 238 proposed establishing a comprehensive state program focused on preventing and treating adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—traumatic events like abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction that affect child development. The bill would have allocated funding to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to implement this initiative.

Why is this important

ACEs are strongly linked to lifelong health problems, behavioral issues, and reduced economic productivity. Early intervention and prevention programs based on ACE research have shown measurable success in reducing long-term costs to healthcare, criminal justice, and social services systems. This represents a public health approach to addressing root causes of trauma rather than treating symptoms downstream.

Potential points of contention

  • Government spending and scope: Opposition may argue that ACE prevention should remain primarily a family and community responsibility rather than a state-funded program, or that the appropriation was too costly given budget constraints.
  • Implementation concerns: Questions about whether state agencies have sufficient expertise to effectively design and manage trauma-informed prevention programs, or whether funding would be efficiently allocated.
  • Data privacy and intervention limits: Potential tension between identifying at-risk children early (requiring data collection) and parental rights/privacy concerns around government involvement in family matters.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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