Sheriff candidates debate addiction, public health

May 12, 2016 | Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.com

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The debate was broadcasted and live streamed by Focus Springfield and is also available on YouTube.
Reminder Publications photo by Chris Maza

SPRINGFIELD – While sheriff is most often considered a law enforcement position, public health issues dominated the conversation during the May 10 debate between the five candidates.

The forum, the first of its kind in decades, was hosted and broadcast by Focus Springfield and moderated by Reminder Publications Managing Editor G. Michael Dobbs with questions contributed by Northeast Public Radio’s Paul Tuthill, The Republican’s Elizabeth Roman and WWLP’s Ryan Walsh.

Governor’s Councilor Michael Albano, Springfield City Councilor Tom Ashe, Hampden County Sheriff's Department Deputy Superintendent Nick Cocchi, Hampden County Sheriff's Department Assistant Deputy Superintendent James Gill and retired Connecticut Department of Corrections addiction specialist Jack Griffin all took multiple opportunities to address the county’s burgeoning opioid crisis.

Albano called the opioid issue the biggest challenge facing the next sheriff.

“We’re losing people to this epidemic, this crisis, every day, and yet, there is no action plan in place in Hampden County,” he said, adding the formation of such a plan would be his top priority.

He added he planned to treat the opioid problem as a public health crisis, rather than a criminal one.

“People who need treatment deserve it and we should demand it,” Albano said. “We should have programs so people who want treatment will be able to get it.”

Cocchi countered Albano’s assertions by listing the services currently provided by the Sheriff’s Department, including the Opioid Dependency Relapse Program, which includes in-house education and treatment, reintroduction to the community, and induction into wrap-around services.

“We’ve been doing a lot with addiction services, especially the opioid crisis,” he said. “We put 17,000 people through our addiction center since it opened and we have a 90 percent success rate.”

Gill called for increased outreach and education in the communities and schools regarding opioids and other addictive substances. He pointed out that 86 percent of those incarcerated are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

“We understand that this opioid crisis is a disease, but more importantly, we have to understand the alternative,” he said. “The choice is to not use. I believe the Sheriff’s Department can do a much better job to go out into the community and into our schools to provide education for our youth and young adults to steer them away from the option of using drugs.

“If I can change how you think, I’ll change how you feel and if I change how you feel, I will change how you behave. The choice today is about families and the Gill administration will always be concerned with your family,” he added.

Ashe reiterated Gill’s concerns about drug abuse education and suggested a more concerted effort was needed to partner with the schools to make that aspect a core part of the curriculum. He added that five pods are currently closed at the Ludlow jail and suggested that those could be used as treatment centers.

Griffin agreed the department “needs to step up its game” in terms of community outreach, but in another direction. He commended the department for its ability to address the needs of incarcerated inmates, but said more services for those beyond the walls of the department’s facilities are needed.

“What we need is more continuity of care in the community,” he said, noting the area’s high rates of recidivism. “It takes less money to treat them than incarcerate them. I believe the Sheriff’s Department could be utilized a lot better in the community, kind of like a community enforcement agency, not just in the high crime areas. These are highly trained correctional personnel with great interpersonal skills. Put them in the community. Help them engage the community. Help these little headbangers that are acting like ‘thuglets.’ If you get to them at that juncture, education is the key.

“Kids are dying out there. We’re losing a whole generation … This job under the Griffin administration is going to reach out to the community,” he added.

Cocchi asserted the department is active in the schools in an educational capacity and by offering truancy officers to ensure students are in school.

Relative thereto, the siting of a new addiction treatment center on Mill Street in Springfield also drew a range of opinions.

Albano suggested the creation of a 205-bed facility on the property of the Ludlow House of Correction with 80 beds for those confined and committed, while the rest would be open to those who seek out help from the department with their addiction, a procedure similar to the one utilized by the Boston Police Department.

“Four people are dying each and every day in Massachusetts from an opioid overdose,” he said. “We have to do something and to suggest that the current model is working is simply wrong. It has been inadequate and does not address the true needs.”

He pointed out his longtime opinion that such a facility should not be allowed in residential neighborhoods and criticized officials for attempting to manipulate the law in order to classify the center as an educational or lodging facility.

Griffin retorted that addiction treatment is education and discussed concerns with accessibility, noting that many who utilize the program are in need of transportation services such as the PVTA to which a Ludlow facility would not cater.

Ashe also spoke in favor of the Mill Street site, stressing the neighbors of the former Howard Street facility were vocally opposed to the facility when it was first proposed, but by the time the program vacated the area, most agreed the neighborhood benefitted from its presence.

Gill said he thought the discussion was moot because the placement of the facility was all but decided, but criticized the method through which the Sheriff’s Department made its way into the neighborhood. He further stated he believed the center’s current location in Holyoke was the best option. He said he spoke to Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse who voiced support for maintaining the facility and added the neighborhood has had no problems with the facility. He suggested rehabbing two additional buildings to provide additional mental health services.

Cocchi pointed out, however, that the site was a temporary one and while the department passed a recent audit on the facility, it was noted that the physical structure’s integrity was degrading. He also asserted the location was not desirable from an accessibility standpoint not only for those being treated, but for volunteers.

Cocchi also countered Albano, stating the space for such a facility at the Ludlow jail doesn’t exist and if it did, the site would not be able to adequately serve the public.

“The importance of an addiction center and giving treatment is to be where the wraparound services are,” he said. “The city of Springfield has a majority of people going back into the community and when they go back, they have to have that relational model going into their appointments, into their placement where they’re going to continue their treatment.”

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