Essex County Sheriff’s Department
Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger
Specialized Units
The Essex County Sheriff’s Department’s COPE, CARE, and CASE units provide critical, specialized support for individuals facing mental health challenges, pre-trial uncertainty, and addiction. By addressing these needs with care and structure, these units help break cycles of incarceration, promote recovery, and prepare individuals for successful reentry—making our communities safer and stronger.
COPE – Correctional Opportunity for Personal Enrichment
- Dedicated Mental Health Support Unit: Serves more than 40 individuals with mental health and co-occurring disorders in a specialized housing environment designed to support stabilization and recovery.
- Evidence-Based Services: Developed in partnership with Volunteers of America (VOA), the unit provides on-site case management, psychoeducational programming, and individualized reentry planning focused on housing, treatment, and employment. Services include embedded clinicians and coordination with mental health and recovery courts to ensure continuity of care.
- Positive Outcomes: In 2025, COPE successfully diverted 100 individuals from incarceration back into the community, connecting them to appropriate treatment and support services.
CARE – Correctional Alternatives for Re-Entry
- Pre-Trial Reentry Pathway: Offers individualized pre-trial programming aimed at diversion and preparation for release.
- Collaborative Case Management: Supports participants through coordination with drug or mental health courts, probation, veterans services, and victim services.
- Structured Supportive Environment: Enables participants to access community-based treatments, with case managers facilitating DNA collection and court liaison duties.
CASE – Clean and Sober Existence
- 28‑Day Detox & Treatment Program: A structured, long-term program for pre-trial detainees showing signs of addiction (opioids, drugs, alcohol).
- Holistic Care Approach: Emphasizes physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well‑being in a respectful and accountable environment.
Reentry-Focused Outcomes: Graduates are recommended for community services, probation, reporting programs, drug testing, and in some cases sober housing.
For more information, contact Jen Padre.
