Massachusetts Trial Court officials say they recognize the need for a specialty drug court in Springfield, in the face of lobbying from Springfield area lawmakers and community activists.
The Massachusetts Trial Court plans to open a drug court in Springfield in 2016.
"We certainly share the urgent desire to open a drug court there, and we are committed to establishing a drug court in Springfield sometime next year," Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey and Court Administrator Harry Spence wrote in an Oct. 13 letter to the chief of staff of state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow.
Carey and Spence said the trial court will need additional probation staff to effectively operate the Springfield drug court.
"We continue to actively work on statewide staffing challenges in probation and expect to achieve sufficient Probation staff in Springfield in 2016," they wrote. "We will initiate a drug court once that is achieved."
Hampden County legal officials, including District Attorney Anthony Gullini, have expressed interest in starting a drug court in the county.
In September, a group of Hampden County lawmakers and community activists petitioned Spence to consider opening a drug court in Springfield, sending letters, then meeting with Spence and Carey.
"I view it as really an issue of fundamental fairness, that services should be tied to need, and we have a significant need as we face, in particular, the heroin epidemic in the whole Greater Springfield-Pioneer Valley region," said Lesser, who circulated the letter to lawmakers.
"We need to have the services and the correct support to combat that epidemic, and one of those is a drug court that tailors responses to non-violent drug offenders in a way that actually gets people help and prevents people going back to the abuse," Lesser said.
Tara Parrish, director of the Pioneer Valley Project, a coalition of religious, labor and community groups, helped organize the effort to lobby lawmakers and criminal justice officials.
Parrish said compared to other cities, Springfield has a disproportionate number of people returning to the city after serving jail time. Many of those people have substance abuse problems.
"This is really impacting so many people, and addiction is a disease that incarceration does not treat," Parrish said.
Parrish said it is better for the addict and the community if a person can be successfully treated instead of being incarcerated without treatment, then returned to the community with a criminal record that makes it hard to find work.
"If we're investing scarce public resources in incarcerating people versus creating healthy communities and focusing on treatment, we're missing an opportunity to save resources," Parrish said.
The letter from lawmakers described Springfield as "situated in the heart of the opioid crisis" in Western Massachusetts. It said in one week in May, Hampden Superior Court handled 61 cases tied to heroin or oxycodone.
"In Western Massachusetts, the closest drug court is located in the city of Greenfield, which is over 38 miles away from Springfield and not easily accessible for those without a car," lawmakers wrote. "Without access to a drug court in our region, many of our residents are currently sentenced to incarceration where treatment is not an option."
The legislative letter was signed by eight lawmakers whose districts include Springfield: Lesser, Sen. James Welch, Reps. Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Tosado, Michael Finn, Angelo Puppolo, Benjamin Swan and Thomas Petrolati. A similar letter was sent by local community leaders through the Pioneer Valley Project.
Supporters of drug courts say they provide an opportunity for non-violent drug offenders to be steered toward supervised treatment rather than incarceration. This helps people get and stay in treatment while keeping offenders out of jail and reducing recidivism. According to Lesser's office, drug courts are estimated to save between $3,000 and $13,000 per person by reducing prison costs and continued arrests.
Elaine Awand, director of ABLE House, a Springfield halfway house for men in recovery, about half of whom have been referred by the sheriff's department after incarceration, said it is vital for people in recovery to have a safe place to live and employment opportunities. Rather than serving people coming out of jail, she said, "It would be wonderful if I could work with them before they go to jail."
"We all know incarceration doesn't address addiction," Awand said. "If we can address issues up front rather than later on, it would be beneficial to children, families and communities."
Awand and Rocky Thompson, a retired business agent for Carpenters Local 108, both of whom are members of the Pioneer Valley Project, said the community is committed to making a drug court a success, by providing treatment options and services.
"We're in this for the long haul," Thompson said. "This isn't something we want to see happen, then we walk away to think about other things. When it comes to the drug court, we fully understand that there are a number of things that have to be secured for this to work from beginning to end, from the time they get arrested until they get into treatment, remain clean and get access to economic opportunity."
Currently, the two drug courts in Western Massachusetts are in Greenfield and Orange. There are none in Hampden County, which in 2014 had 59 unintentional opioid overdose deaths, ranking eighth highest of the state's 14 counties. Springfield itself had 22 overdose deaths in both 2012 and 2013, and 16 deaths based on preliminary numbers in 2014.
The decision to plan for a drug court in Springfield comes as the state trying to expand its specialty courts, which also include mental health and veterans courts.
There are currently 36 specialty courts in Massachusetts, including 25 drug courts. Trial Court spokeswoman Jennifer Donahue said court officials aim to have 50 specialty courts open by July 2017, serving all areas of the state. The Legislature, in its 2016 budget, set aside $230,000 for the expansion of specialty courts, although an effort to earmark $500,000 to establish a Springfield drug court failed.
Gov. Charlie Baker said he believes the location of drug courts needs to be decided by the judiciary. But, he said, "I think drug courts where they've been implemented have worked...and we'll certainly continue to support the development of drug courts."
State Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, called drug courts "very effective" and he would be open to one in Hampden County.
Plans to open a drug court in Hampden County could spur calls for drug courts elsewhere. Asked whether he believes Hampden County needs a drug court, State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, who serves small towns in Berkshire and Hampden counties, said, "I think every county in the commonwealth should have a drug court."
