$2.6M grant helps Essex County Sheriff provide medication-assisted treatment services
MIDDLETON — The Essex County Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with Volunteers of America Massachusetts was awarded a $2.6 million grant to help close to 1,000 people in Essex County with their treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD).
The grant will create the Essex Medication Re-entry Grant Expansion (EMRGE) program to enhance wrap-around services for a true continuum of care pre-and post-incarceration for OUD justice-involved individuals. Importantly, it will also allow the Sheriff’s Department to continue providing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and recovery support services after a person is released from the Sheriff’s custody.
“The Essex County Sheriff’s Department has been at the forefront of medication assisted treatment for incarcerated people battling substance use disorder, but too often this type of treatment is difficult to come by after someone leaves our facility,” said Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger. “This partnership with Volunteers of America will allow us to create comprehensive treatment opportunities for 950 people over five years and allow us to continue the rehabilitation work when people leave us to provide them a greater hope of success.”
The Essex County Sheriff’s Department currently offers MAT services to over 1,000 inmates. Formerly incarcerated individuals have a 50 times higher opioid death rate than those who are nonincarcerated. MAT initiated early and used throughout incarceration has shown to be an effective method of minimizing overdose risk and emergency room discharges.
EMRGE will draw clients from the Sheriff’s Department three correctional facilities — the Middleton Jail and House of Correction, the Essex County Pre-release and Re-entry Center in Lawrence, and the Women in Transition Program in Salisbury. It will also draw clients from those in need of services who are on parole, probation or involved with drug courts.
Volunteers of America is a nonprofit that creates opportunities for individuals through residential and outpatient behavioral health treatment, re-entry for justice-involved individuals, veteran services, and senior living care in Eastern Massachusetts. It was awarded the $2.6 million grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"We will be able to leverage these funds to support those we serve in breaking the cycle of poverty and homelessness and in getting treatment for substance use disorder and mental illness utilizing our new care model that addresses root causes and not symptoms," VOAMASS President and CEO Charles Gagnon. "We will also be able to extend this model to far more communities and offer a broader range of services that will help clients realize their full potential."