PLYMOUTH and BOSTON — The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative is pleased to report that the Plymouth County HUB will convene a gathering of law enforcement, public health and other county stakeholders to promote networking and sharing of ideas.
WHEN:
Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE:
225 Water St., Plymouth, MA
WHAT:
The Plymouth County HUB and PAARI are convening a meeting of stakeholders from around the county, and experts from outside the county, to promote networking, learning, and sharing of ideas between stakeholders.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz will offer remarks, as well State Rep. Alyson Sullivan, Pembroke Police Deputy Chief Wendy LaPierre, and Mike Botieri from Operation 2 Save Lives, who was one of the HUB’s founding members in his former role as Plymouth Police Chief.
“In 2020, our office was proud to join our Plymouth County partners in forming the first known, county-wide HUB in the United States,” said District Attorney Cruz. “Together, we have built strong relationships with law enforcement, the schools, mental health care providers, housing advocates and those working in substance use prevention, to get those desperate for help the services that they deserve, locally, right here in our county.”
“The members of the Pembroke Police Department are proud to partner with Plymouth County HUB, an organization that allows us to help people who are experiencing acute challenges,” said Deputy LaPierre. “We believe in the HUB’s mission, and it means a lot to us to be able to contribute to this organization.”
Rep. Sullivan will speak about the recently-enacted Act Addressing Barriers to Care for Mental Health.
Representatives from the county’s 27 police departments will be on hand, as well as public health partners and other stakeholders who provide resources in the county.
Light refreshments will be provided, and law enforcement representatives will receive material from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative.
“We want to show appreciation to all of those who have partnered with us to make the Plymouth County HUB a success, and to bring stakeholders together to engage with each other, start conversations, and discuss sharing resources and best practices,” said Program Manager Charlette Tarsi. “We hope this gathering will be both a celebration, and a chance to form relationships and share information that will enable all of us in Plymouth County to be even more effective as we seek to provide resources and support to those who are struggling.”
Plymouth County HUB was the nation’s first county-wide model for providing treatment and behavioral health services when it was created in 2020 through a collaboration of PAARI, Plymouth County Outreach, and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, with grant funding from South Shore Health.
The HUB uses data and input from stakeholders around the county to identify those most at risk due to 24 different risk factors. The HUB then focuses on situations where individuals and families face multiple areas of high risk. Risk factors monitored by the HUB include mental health, substance use disorder, housing insecurity, food insecurity, criminal involvement and more. A full list of risk factors evaluated by the HUB can be found here.
Those identified as having multiple risk factors are identified as situations for privacy purposes, and any law enforcement officer or provider can attend a weekly HUB meeting to bring situations to the HUB’s attention, prompting outreach efforts. The HUB recently identified the 300th situation in Plymouth County, and has connected a majority of those individuals to resources and support.
“O2SL & QRT National is thrilled to be included in the Plymouth County HUB Convening Event,” said Botieri. “The work that PAARI is doing in the field of Pre-arrest Diversion and Deflection, throughout the country is very exciting and we are honored to participate.”
For more information on the Plymouth County Hub, visit: https://www.plymouthcountyhub.com/.
Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant number 1H79TI083343 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
About PAARI:
The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (PAARI) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery. Founded alongside the groundbreaking Gloucester, Mass., Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, PAARI has been a driving force behind this rapidly expanding community policing movement. We provide technical assistance, coaching, grants, and other capacity-building resources to more than 700 police departments in 40 states.
PAARI works with more than 130 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. PAARI and our law enforcement partners are working towards a collective vision where non-arrest diversion programs become a standard policing practice across the country, thereby reducing overdose deaths, expanding access to treatment, improving public safety, reducing crime, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and increasing trust between law enforcement and their communities. Our programs and partners have saved tens of thousands of lives, changed police culture, reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic, and have placed more than 30,000 people into treatment since its founding in June 2015. Learn more at paariusa.org.
