Lacey Municipal Alliance to Advocate for Continued Substance Abuse Counseling in Elementary Schools

Members of the Lacey Township Municipal Alliance voted Monday night to draft a letter to the township Board of Education asking for the funding of a Student Assistance Counselor in the elementary schools.

Currently, the position is held by an unpaid intern who will leave at the end of the school year.

Municipal Alliance Chairperson Nancy Joyce said Student Assistance Counselors provide children who have parents with substance abuse problems and those involved in bullying or any other risky behavior with confidential counseling.

“In the elementary schools, these counselors identify students at risk at an early age when they are still open to communicating their feelings without stigma or embarrassment,” said Joyce. “Some of the children don’t have anyone else to reach out to.”

The 2009 New Jersey Student Health Survey by the state Department of Education found that 35 percent of high school students in the state said they had used marijuana at some point in their lives and 75 percent said they had used alcohol.

“We have learned through our experience with the Municipal Alliance that we need to reach children at a much younger age and teach their parents what to look for,” said Township Committeeman David Most. “We must be proactive rather than reactive.”

The Student Assistance Counselors in Lacey Township High School and Middle School will remain, according to April Orlando of the Association Against Drugs and Alcohol at the high school.

“It is important to reach these at-risk students before they get to middle school because middle school is where they begin experimenting with drugs,” said Orlando. “The counselor helps these children to understand that just because their parents do it, they don’t have to take the same path.”

Municipal Alliance members plan to present their letter to the Board of Education at an upcoming meeting.