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Joy N. Wieder

In an effort to stem the rising tide of drug and alcohol addiction, especially the abuse of opioids and heroin, local towns will now have mental health clinicians assisting police officers.

With the aid of a three-year regional grant from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, the towns in the Concord court system in conjunction with Eliot Community Human Services, a nonprofit human services agency, will implement a jail diversion program. Communities in the regional program include Acton, Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Maynard, Stow and Hanscom.

On Dec. 3, the Hudson and Maynard Democratic town committees hosted a drug addiction, mental illness and crime forum at Maynard Town Hall. Panelists included Maynard Police Chief Mark Dubois, Hudson Police Chief Michael Burks, Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno and Dr. Sarah Abbott, the director of the Jail Diversion Program for Advocates Inc., with Jaime Folk from the Maynard Democratic Town Committee as the moderator. State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, also spoke at the beginning of the forum.

According to the website for the Department of Mental Health (mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dmh), “The primary goal of any police-based jail diversion program (JDP) is to reduce or eliminate the time people with mental and substance abuse disorders spend incarcerated and criminal charges by redirecting them from the criminal justice system to community based treatment and supports.”

Part of the jail diversion program will include mental health clinicians riding along with police officers to respond to cases involving mental health and substance abuse issues. The goal is to keep individuals with addiction and/or mental health problems out of the court system and get them into treatment. The program began in Framingham 14 years ago and has recently expanded to include other communities and regions.

Source: 
Wicked Local Stow