Woonsocket LEADER in Treatment Program

The Woonsocket Police Department is applying under Category 1: Locally Driven Responses

to the Opioid Epidemic and Subcategory 1b -a service area with a population between 100,000 and 500,000. The amount requested over the three-year grant period is $873,040.

This grant will allow the police department to implement the Law Enforcement Assisted Deflection, Engagement, and Retention (LEADER) in Treatment program. The LEADER in Treatment program will divert individuals with a substance use disorder or co-occurring disorders before formally entering the criminal justice system at the post-arrest/pre-prosecution stage. 

The service area for this program is regional.  The program will be based out of the city of Woonsocket which is in northern Rhode Island on the border with Massachusetts, although the program will also serve residents of Lincoln (population 21,105), Cumberland (population 35,263), North Smithfield (population 12,582), Pawtucket (population 72,117), Central Falls (population 19,568), and Providence (population 179,194) who are routinely arrested by the Woonsocket Police Department due to geographic proximity.

The proposed project addresses BJA COSSAP’s allowable use of establishing a pre-prosecution treatment program that serves individuals at high risk for overdose or suffering from substance use disorder.  The Woonsocket LEADER in Treatment program will begin accepting referrals within 6 months of the grant award and serve an anticipated 80 individuals per year.

Priority Considerations that will be addressed by this project:

Woonsocket, and the state of Rhode Island, has been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis.
The LEADER in Treatment program is a law enforcement diversion program designed to build trust with the community.
Woonsocket is a community with a high rate of poverty.