President Donald Trump is expected to make a major announcement on the opioid crisis during the event.
Leaders from the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, a program inspired by Gloucester's ANGEL police program, will attend a White House event on the opioid epidemic on Thursday.
The non-profit program -- otherwise known as P.A.A.R.I. -- was made in response to the revolutionary ANGEL program created by Gloucester resident John Rosenthal and then-Police Chief Leonard Campanello in 2015. The ANGEL program allowed addicts to turn themselves into police without facing fear of arrest.
P.A.A.R.I., led by Board President Rosenthal and Executive Director Allie Hunter McDade, works to implement programs like ANGEL across the country.
The non-profit has launched more than 320 law enforcement programs in 31 states, helping more than 12,000 people receive treatment, according to a statement.
On Wednesday, P.A.A.R.I. announced it received a three-year grant to place 25 AmeriCorps members with police stations across Massachusetts. The grant from the Massachusetts Service Alliance and the Corporation for National and Community Service will provide additional resources to assist with police-led addiction and recovery programs. The group also announced it would add two recovery coaches to Lynn's police force.
On Thursday, the White House will host Hunter McDade and Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan, and an Ohio police chief who works with the non-profit. The advocates will join congress members, head of agencies and President Donald Trump and his wife for the event, in which Trump is expected to possibly declare the opioid crisis a national emergency.
While Trump did say the opioid crisis was a national emergency in August, the administration has yet to file the paperwork to declare a formal national emergency, which would remove some existing barriers for local authorities.
Typically, the designation is reserved for imposing sanctions on a country or other foreign relations matters. The New York Times has a list of the 28 open national emergencies, including the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.
"We look forward to attending this afternoon's event and learning more about how the President will honor his pledge to fight this epidemic and give people struggling with addiction access to the help they need," P.A.A.R.I.'s Hunter McDade said in a statement.