The boston police department proposes to implement bostons FY23 cossup diversion program

The purpose of the proposed project is to: 1) increase coordination and collaboration across the boston police department, suffolk county district attorneys office, and north suffolk community services, INC., in addressing opioid epidemic in a highneeds area of boston known as mass & cass (at the intersection of melnea cass boulevard and massachusetts avenue); 2) strengthen the services over sentences (SOS) program so that IT can better serve high-risk, high-need individuals who have been arrested in the proposed area; 3) support boston police departments street outreach unit and city-wide bicycle unit to provide increased outreach and diversion from arrest, as appropriate, to individuals experiencing mental illness and/or substance use disorders in the mass & cass area; and 4) conduct process and program evaluations so that the process by which these partnerships are formalized can be better understood and replicated, and to assess the effectiveness of the program in getting high-risk, high-need individuals into treatment and recovery. Project activities include establishing an interagency MOU; hiring two dedicated north suffolk recovery coaches; hiring a full-time SOS coordinator through the suffolk county district attorneys office; supporting the street outreach unit and city-wide bicycle unit in their efforts to provide pre-arrest diversion; and partnering with DR. Melissa morabito to conduct the evaluations. These are allowable activities, falling under the umbrella of post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs and law enforcement diversion programs. Expected outcomes include strengthened collaboration across the boston police department, suffolk county district attorneys office and north suffolk; increased SOS participation and service provision to eligible individuals; reduced criminal sentences for individuals who participate in the SOS program; decreased recidivism among individuals who participate in the SOS program; and increased number of individuals diverted from arrest to diversion. Substance-using individuals in the mass & cass area who have been recently or previously arrested for a crime (including individuals with outstanding warrants), but have not yet been prosecuted or sentenced, are the intended beneficiaries of the project. Subrecipient activities include the provision of recovery coach services (the cornerstone of the SOS program) through north suffolk, high-level project coordination through the suffolk county district attorneys office, and evaluations to be performed by DR. Morabito.