Plymouth County Outreach (PCO), via Town of East Bridgewater Police, applying for entire county, "PCO: A Police/Treatment outreach approach to high-risk individuals with substance use disorder"

The Town of East Bridgewater is applying for funding in the amount of $1,600,000 to support the existing Plymouth County Outreach (PCO) program. One hundred percent of this budget will support the allowable use category of law enforcement and first responder deflection and diversion programming. This project serves the area of Plymouth County, which has a population of 533,033.[1] PCO is a police directed post-overdose outreach model and serves to make treatment more accessible for those struggling with Substance Use Disorder and their families. The key program components of this proposal will enhance the current PCO model in two ways. First, the creation of a standardized training curriculum for all police officers, dispatchers, and civilian employees of police departments throughout Plymouth County including the fundamentals of addiction, overdose prevention and response, trauma informed responses to addiction/overdoses, and ACES.  It is expected that 75% of all police personnel will be trained through this funding. Second, the creation of two satellite offices in underserved parts of the county identified as overdose “hot-spots” to expand the capacity of PCO staff to engage with clients in non-adversarial settings; conduct harm reduction training and distribution of supplies; provide drop-in services that focus on removing barriers to accessing treatment (assistance with obtaining IDs, insurance applications, and transportation); and provide referrals for employment, housing, mental health counseling, and local treatment/recovery resources.

This project includes partnerships between the 27 police departments in Plymouth County, as well as the Bridgewater State University Police Department, the Plymouth County District Attorney and Sheriff, as well as all local hospitals and treatment facilities. PCO is administered by an Advisory Board that is comprised of Police Chiefs, Physicians, and Public Health experts. Kelley Research Associates (KRA) will serve as the research partner for this project and also maintain the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS) software which records real-time data on all overdoses that occur in Plymouth County. CIMS also manages and documents incident follow-up outreach visits to determine the success at connecting individuals with treatment services, shares information across communities using a county-wide incident notification system and provides real-time reporting tools. Previous COSSAP funding from 2018 and 2020 allowed PCO to establish long-term viability. This proposal signifies a strategic expansion of the PCO model to fill critical gaps in current resources and services.

[1] Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties in Massachusetts: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021

(CO-EST2021-POP-25).