The Police Chiefs of Plymouth County and the Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) are pleased to announce the launch of a new component of the Plymouth County Outreach program, which will increase access to treatment and behavioral health services.

Through a grant from South Shore Health, P.A.A.R.I. is partnering with Plymouth County Outreach to enhance their program to launch the nation’s first county-wide Hub model.

The HUB model aims to assist those struggling before they reach a crisis point, and to provide outreach and linkages to care for individuals at acutely elevated risk for a variety of behavioral health concerns. The new model is designed to increase collaboration, reduce calls for service, and improve access to care for those struggling with substance use disorders, mental health concerns, and a variety of other risk factors.

The model launched earlier this month during five days of training for Plymouth County law enforcement officers and field personnel (outreach officers, recovery coaches, resource and partner clinicians, social workers and others). Representatives from ten police departments outside of Plymouth County also attended the training to prepare to launch the model in their own communities in the future.

The training was presented by representatives from the Canadian-based Global Network for Community Safety, the creators and world’s preeminent trainers of the HUB model.

On Monday, Jan. 13, more than 100 police chiefs and executives from behavioral health and medical resources attended training at Plymouth’s Memorial Hall, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 14 and 15, more than 100 police officers and field personnel attended training as well.

By the end of the training on Friday, Jan. 17, all four service groups — known as “situation tables” — were up and running.

The four service groups in the HUB model include:

• HUB Table A – Plymouth District Court region, to include the communities of Plymouth, Kingston, Plympton, Halifax, Duxbury, Pembroke, Hanson and Marshfield.
• HUB Table B – Wareham District Court region, to include the communities of Wareham, Marion, Mattapoisett, Carver, Middleboro, Lakeville and Rochester.
• HUB Table C – Brockton District Court region, to include the communities of Brockton, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Abington and Whitman.
• HUB Table D – Hingham District Court region, to include the communities of Hingham, Hull, Scituate, Norwell, Rockland and Hanover.

“Starting a new initiative is hard enough, but getting all of these law enforcement representatives and community partners into one room at the same time was no easy task,” PCO Project Coordinator Vicky Butler said. “John Rogers, the PCO/P.A.A.R.I. HUB Coordinator overseeing this project, has done an incredible job with this and we are excited to see the HUB model in action.”

Funding for the HUB model began last spring, when P.A.A.R.I., Plymouth County Outreach and Beth Israel Lahey Health of Plymouth were selected by South Shore Health to receive a five-year grant for $930,000. P.A.A.R.I. will be the fiduciary of the grant.

“We have seen this model prove to be very effective with our partners in Chelsea and Boston Police Departments, and we are incredibly thankful that South Shore Health has chosen to support our plan to bring it to Plymouth County to improve access to behavioral health services on the South Shore,” P.A.A.R.I. Executive Director Allie Hunter said. “P.A.A.R.I. has had many successful partnerships with PCO, and we are thrilled to embark on this latest initiative alongside our local law enforcement partners.”

“Plymouth County Outreach is so fortunate and appreciative to partner with P.A.A.R.I. on expanding our county collaboration, bringing an Integrated Behavioral Health approach to our existing model,” said East Bridgewater Police Chief Scott Allen, a member of the P.A.A.R.I. Law Enforcement Council. “We can’t address substance use and mental health disorders in separate silos.”

About Plymouth County Outreach:
Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) is a collaboration of all 27 municipal police departments in the county, as well as Bridgewater State University Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Department, along with dozens of partners from healthcare including South Shore Health, substance use disorder treatment organizations, the recovery community, faith-based groups, local substance use coalitions, concerned citizens and all hospitals that serve Plymouth County.

PCO’s Project Coordinator, Vicky Butler continues to keep the public updated through the PCO website: plymouthcountyoutreach.org | Facebook: @plymouthcountyoutreach | Twitter: @countyoutreach | Instagram: @plymouthcountyoutreach and can be reached at vbutler@plymouthcountyoutreach.org.

About P.A.A.R.I.

The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) 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 MA Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, P.A.A.R.I. 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 500 police departments in 35 states. We currently work with more than 130 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. P.A.A.R.I. 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 thousands of lives, changed police culture, reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic and have placed over 24,000 people into treatment since its founding in June 2015. Learn more at paariusa.org.

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