BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3, grants for $2.6 million over three years to launch a diversion program for those with substance abuse disorder.
Diversion to Care (DivCare) will establish and enhance collaborations with community organizations in the areas of local public health, public safety, and the criminal legal system to promote community-based harm reduction services among communities disproportionately impacted by overdoses.
Along with organizations in Worcester, DivCare will distribute grants in Brockton, Lowell, Northampton, and Revere.
“We can and we must continue to address the overdose and opioid crisis so that people can access treatment that meets them where they are at and does not perpetuate stigma,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh.
DivCare will support communities with high rates of overdoses to engage in a collaborative process to identify alternative responses to substance use and overdose that center racial equity and prioritize evidence-based harm reduction, recovery support, and treatment services.
Responses developed through the program will include public health and public safety and designed to divert people with substance use disorder to appropriate services when they come in contact with the criminal legal system.
“Overdoses are preventable. That is why we continue to work hard to expand and strengthen harm reduction services, especially in Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities where there is a disproportionate burden of fatal overdoses,” said Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD. “This program will support communities facing high overdose rates by diverting residents struggling with substance use disorder away from the criminal legal system and toward culturally informed life-saving services.”
DivCare funding begins in December 2024. The funding comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Grants to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (via DPH), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program site-based grants (via EOPSS).
