Guest columnist Patrick Cahillane: Dedicated to being part of the solution

By SHERIFF PATRICK J. CAHILLANE

Published: 03-02-2023 5:07 PM

It’s no exaggeration to say that crime in the United States is fueled by addiction.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and other organizations that monitor the link between crime and addiction, approximately 65% of incarcerated Americans have a diagnosed substance use disorder, and an additional 20% were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they committed their crime.

Although 85% of incarcerated individuals with some degree of substance abuse is a staggering figure, a recent National Academy of Sciences report on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder indicates that only 5% of those individuals are receiving medication-assisted treatment.

But for the past five years, the Hampshire Sheriff’s Office has been at the vanguard of providing opioid addiction treatment to incarcerated people in Massachusetts.

In 2018, with the signing of the CARE Act, a law that established a pilot program for medication-assisted treatment in jails and prisons, the Sheriff’s Office, along with the Franklin, Hampden, Middlesex and Norfolk houses of correction, stepped up to become the first facilities in the state to offer this form of treatment for opioid use disorder. We continued to expand and refine our MAT program and in October 2021, after many COVID-related delays, the Sheriff’s Office became a federally licensed Opioid Treatment Program (OTP), a designation that gives us more autonomy in prescribing medications, especially methadone, one of the most tightly regulated substances in the country.

While almost all of the 14 Massachusetts sheriffs are now offering some form of medication-assisted treatment, the Hampshire Sheriff’s Office is only the second facility in the state, behind Franklin, and one of only a handful of county facilities nationwide, to become a federally licensed Opioid Treatment Program, a hugely significant achievement in the history of the Sheriff’s Office and in the evolution of our correctional practices.

Last month, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, an organization recognized as one of the strictest of the many oversight agencies that monitor correctional practices in the country, conducted a two-day, stem-to-stern audit of our Opioid Treatment Program, our first audit since earning our federal license. The auditors, who made special note of the teamwork and camaraderie they experienced during their visit, concluded that of the 46 standards that apply to facilities of our size, we are in 100% compliance with all 46, a clear indication that we are headed in the right direction.

The goal of our medication-assisted program is, of course, saving and improving lives, and reducing crime and recidivism. Since earning our federal license, 405 individuals have been treated in our facility and have had access to community support services, like the ones we have been offering at the Northampton Recovery Center and are now beginning to expand at the Ware Recovery Center.

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Of those 405, only 70 have returned to our facility. That gives us hope that there are 335 men who are currently traveling in a better direction than the one that landed them in jail in the first place.

Our early results are promising and we will continue to operate our Opioid Treatment Program in accordance with the highest standards. I want the people of Hampshire County, and our state legislators, to know that the Hampshire Sheriff’s Office has been a pioneer in this effort and remains dedicated to being part of the solution to the problem of addiction-fueled crime.

Patrick J. Cahillane is Hampshire County sheriff. ]]>