Boston's FY23 COSSUP Diversion Program

The Boston Police Department proposes to implement Boston’s FY23
COSSUP Diversion Program. The purpose of the proposed project is to: 1) increase coordination
and collaboration across the Boston Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney’s
Office, and North Suffolk Community Services, Inc., in addressing opioid epidemic in a highneeds
area of Boston known as Mass & Cass (at the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and
Massachusetts Avenue); 2) strengthen the Services Over Sentences (SOS) Program so that it can
better serve high-risk, high-need individuals who have been arrested in the proposed area; 3)
support Boston Police Department’s Street Outreach Unit and City-Wide Bicycle Unit to provide
increased outreach and diversion from arrest, as appropriate, to individuals experiencing mental
illness and/or substance use disorders in the Mass & Cass area; and 4) conduct process and
program evaluations so that the process by which these partnerships are formalized can be better
understood and replicated, and to assess the effectiveness of the program in getting high-risk,
high-need individuals into treatment and recovery. Project activities include establishing an interagency MOU; hiring two dedicated North Suffolk recovery coaches; hiring a full-time SOS
Coordinator through the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; supporting the Street
Outreach Unit and City-Wide Bicycle Unit in their efforts to provide pre-arrest diversion; and
partnering with Dr. Melissa Morabito to conduct the evaluations. These are allowable activities,
falling under the umbrella of post-booking treatment alternative-to-incarceration programs and
law enforcement diversion programs. Expected outcomes include strengthened collaboration
across the Boston Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and North
Suffolk; increased SOS participation and service provision to eligible individuals; reduced
criminal sentences for individuals who participate in the SOS Program; decreased recidivism
among individuals who participate in the SOS Program; and increased number of individuals
diverted from arrest to diversion. Substance-using individuals in the Mass & Cass area who have
been recently or previously arrested for a crime (including individuals with outstanding
warrants), but have not yet been prosecuted or sentenced, are the intended beneficiaries of the
project. Subrecipient activities include the provision of recovery coach services (the cornerstone
of the SOS Program) through North Suffolk, high-level project coordination through the Suffolk
County District Attorney’s Office, and evaluations to be performed by Dr. Morabito.