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Newtown Community Group Sees Long-Term Mental Health Needs

NEWTOWN, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) - One organization in Newtown, Conn. says there is a need for continued mental health care services for the community.

As WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported, a lot of donations poured in following the Newtown school massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Dec. 2012.

Newtown Community Group Sees Long-Term Mental Health Needs

But one community leader is concerned there may not be enough resources to fund mental health needs in the future.

"It's going to be the kind of situation that we're going to have to monitor continuously. I think the more we can maximize efficiencies, spend wisely, work together, we will be better positioned to go after grant dollars," Jennifer Barahona of the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation told Schneidau.

Barahona said there could be a number of events down the line to continually trigger emotional relapses, like the opening of the new Newtown elementary school in a few years.

Meantime, some Newtown residents say in a new survey that they want the Sandy Hook school shooter's home torn down and the property turned into a park or nature preserve.

The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation received more than 1,600 responses to the survey it released Monday on town residents' unmet needs in the wake of the shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators. The foundation has been deciding how to distribute more than $11 million in donations made in response to the shooting.

Some survey responses said money should be set aside to tear down shooter Adam Lanza's house in Newtown, where he killed his mother before going to the school.

The survey found that counseling and cash assistance services were among families' top priorities.

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(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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