For Immediate Release

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

P.A.A.R.I. Announces Law Enforcement Partners, Seeks Candidates for Second Year of AmeriCorps Program

BOSTON — Executive Director Allie Hunter McDade is pleased to announce that the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) has named its law enforcement partners for the second year of its AmeriCorps program and is now seeking candidates for capacity building fellows and recovery coaches.

As part of a three-year pilot project funded by the Massachusetts Service Alliance (MSA), the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Cummings Foundation, there will be 73 departments that will receive assistance from embedded AmeriCorps members. This innovative statewide program builds the capacity of law enforcement programs, prevents overdose deaths and provides vital resources to community members with substance use disorders.

The 2018-2019 P.A.A.R.I. AmeriCorps Program begins on Oct. 1 and has 13 open positions for nine recovery coaches and four capacity building fellows. P.A.A.R.I. is accepting applications on a rolling basis for part-time and full-time positions at several police departments across Eastern Massachusetts. More information can be found by clicking here.

During the first year of P.A.A.R.I.’s partnership with AmeriCorps, 3,859 people have taken the first steps on the road to recovery through non-arrest law enforcement entry points as part of the program.

“This partnership was the first of its kind, and we couldn’t be more pleased with these results after just the first year,” Hunter McDade said. “We are thrilled to be able to announce our law enforcement partners for the project’s second year and to begin recruiting for these 13 new positions.”

Police departments served by the P.A.A.R.I. AmeriCorps Program include:

Abington Police, Acton Police, Amesbury Police, Bedford Police, Boston Police, Bridgewater State University Police, Brockton Police, Burlington Police, Canton Police, Carlisle Police, Carver Police, Cohasset Police, Concord Police, Danvers Police, Dedham Police, Duxbury Police, East Bridgewater Police, Essex County Correctional Facility, Foxborough Police, Groveland Police, Halifax Police, Hanover Police, Hanscom Air Force Base, Hanson Police, Hingham Police, Hull Police, Ipswich Police, Kingston Police, Lakeville Police, Lawrence Police, Lexington Police, Lincoln Police, Lynn Police, Marion Police, Marshfield Police, Mattapoisett Police, Maynard Police, Medfield Police, Merrimac Police, Methuen Police, Middleboro Police, Millis Police, Milton Police, Needham Police, New Bedford Police, Newburyport Police, Norfolk Police, Norwell Police, Norwood Police, Pembroke Town Police, Plainville Police, Plymouth Police, Plympton Police, Rochester Police, Rockland Police, Rowley Police, Salisbury Police, Scituate Police, Sharon Police, Somerville Police, Stoughton Police, Stow Police, Tewksbury Police, Walpole Police, Wareham Police, Wellesley Police, West Bridgewater Police, West Newbury Police, Westwood Police, Whitman Police, Wilmington Police, Woburn Police and Wrentham Police.

About AmeriCorps:

AmeriCorps is a civil society program that engages adults in public service work with a goal of helping others and meeting critical needs in the community. Members commit to full-time or part-time positions offered by a network of nonprofit community organizations and public agencies to fulfill assignments in the fields of education, public safety, healthcare, and environmental protection. There are more than 75,000 Americans in service each year.

About P.A.A.R.I.:

The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) is a 501c3 nonprofit with a mission to help law enforcement agencies establish pre-arrest programs that create immediate and stigma-free entry points to treatment and recovery programs. P.A.A.R.I. works across sectors to provide training, coaching, and support; program models, policies and procedures, and templates; seed grants; connections to over 300 vetted treatment centers; a network of like-minded law enforcement agencies; a unified voice with media and legislators; and capacity building through AmeriCorps. P.A.A.R.I. is free to join and open to any law enforcement agency that believes in treatment over arrest and views addiction as a disease not a crime. Since June 2015, P.A.A.R.I. has launched more than 320 law enforcement programs in 31 states, distributed 10,000 4mg doses of life-saving nasal naloxone, and helped over 12,000 people into treatment.

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