Central Middlesex Police Partnership Receives AmeriCorps Grant from P.A.A.R.I. to Combat Opioid Addiction

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — The Central Middlesex Police Partnership (CMPP) is pleased to announce it has received an AmeriCorps grant from the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) to bring on a part-time recovery coach in order to increase the capacity of the CMPP’s existing addiction recovery referral program.

This groundbreaking new statewide program, which launched last month, will combine the power of service with the power of the recovery community and the impact of police-based referral programs, placing 25 AmeriCorps members with host police department sites across Massachusetts.

P.A.A.R.I. AmeriCorps members will build the capacity of law enforcement programs and assist those suffering from substance use disorders by connecting them to treatment and recovery services that divert them from the criminal justice system. The agencies that make up the Central Middlesex Police Partnership are among several police departments selected to receive an AmeriCorps grant from P.A.A.R.I. to bring on AmeriCorps members to prevent overdose deaths and provide vital resources to community members with substance use disorders.

“The recovery coach will be a critical asset for the people we serve, and will provide each of our departments with the resources we need to address the nationwide opioid crisis in our communities,” Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno said. “We are excited about the impact a recovery coach will have on a significant number of lives, and we’re looking forward to having them officially join our partnership.”

P.A.A.R.I. received a three-year grant from the Massachusetts Service Alliance and the Corporation for National and Community Service to launch this first-of-its-kind program that will place 25 AmeriCorps members into service at host police department sites across Massachusetts, assisting with local police-led addiction and recovery programs in light of the growing opioid epidemic.

“We are singularly focused on providing law enforcement with the tools they need to help their communities overcome opioid addiction,” P.A.A.R.I. Executive Director Allie Hunter McDade said. “P.A.A.R.I. is always working to find new and more effective ways to help those struggling with addiction, and through AmeriCorps we’re able equip numerous police agencies with a person whose sole responsibility is to help people overcome barriers to treatment and recovery.”

The Central Middlesex Police Partnership, which includes the police departments in Acton, Bedford, Concord, Carlisle, Lincoln, Lexington, Stow, Maynard and Hanscom Air Force Base, is actively looking to add a recovery coach to its team, and Chief Bongiorno and his partner chiefs urge anyone who may be interested in the role to apply through P.A.A.R.I. at paariusa.org/contact-us/americorps/.

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 & 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 350 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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