CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire is terminating a contract with a treatment facility for troubled youth after two residents overdosed and three others were hospitalized, officials said Wednesday.
Gov. Chris Sununu also said the state will work with Granite State Pathways to transfer the remaining five patients housed at Granite Pathways Youth Treatment Center, the only place that offers treatment services to teens in the state.
There will be no new admissions and the state is also looking for another organization to provide the services after the contract ends next month.
“Tragically there has been a profound breach of trust with this organization which must be addressed swiftly the steps,” Sununu, a Republican, said. “The steps we’ve undertaken today will restore integrity to the program and ensure much needed treatment is available to kids who do need it.”
Granite Pathways State Director Patricia Reed, in a statement, encouraged the state to consider the challenges the facility faces — it’s not locked and drug searches are not performed.
It also deals with a population that are often “out of options” when they arrive at Granite Pathways, she added.
“They have tried outpatient models to no avail. Family members are deeply concerned about their child and do not know where else to turn,” she said in a statement.
At least two residents overdosed Sunday and Monday, said Jeffrey Myers, commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services. It’s unknown what drug they took. Three others were taken to a hospital Monday night after a 911 caller said the residents may have taken the sedative Xanax, according to media reports.
Some of the residents were released to their parents shortly after being taken to the hospital, while at least one who overdosed remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon in Boston in stable condition, reports said.
Granite Pathways denied the residents overdosed. The organization said it called 911 because it believed that residents had used drugs, showed signs of impairment and because of a behavioral issue of one resident.
Myers acknowledged these weren’t the first problems for the center since it got a contract from the state in October 2018. In July, two men were charged with sexually assaulting three teenage girls who walked away from the center. The girls were 15 and 16.
The center can accommodate up to 36 youth ages 12-17 who are struggling with drug or alcohol problems, with an average stay of 48 days. It’s the first dedicated treatment center of its kind in New Hampshire for adolescents. It opened last year.
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