Updated at 2:32 p.m.
PROVIDENCE – The Providence Center, a Care New England facility, and the West Warwick Police Department announced a new partnership to help fight Rhode Island’s opioid addiction epidemic. The announcement was made Monday at a joint press conference at the West Warwick Police Department Youth Center.
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The “WWPD Drug Overdose Prevention Pilot Program” is not the first partnership between a local police department and The Providence Center, which provides mental health and addiction treatment services at several locations around Rhode Island. In 2012, The Providence Center’s police clinician Jessica Zira joined the Providence Police Department and, in 2014, Maureen Gouveia joined the Warwick Police Department in 2014. The goal is to divert people from the criminal justice system and to receive appropriate services. A contract with the Rhode Island Department of Health provides the partnership $95,371 in funds from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the contract is renewable for an additional two years.
Citing data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, The Providence Center reported that the American criminal justice system has become a destination for many people with untreated mental illnesses; nearly 15 percent of men and 30 percent of women booked into jails have a serious mental health condition. In 2015, Rhode Island had the nation’s fifth-highest rate of overdose deaths in the United States, The Providence Center reported.
In an effort to address the root cause, The Providence Center is partnering with local departments to embed clinical therapists who work with officers to de-escalate situations where mental health challenges occur. The Providence Center’s “police clinicians” conduct on-site clinical assessments and, in some cases, connect individuals with the appropriate treatment services.
The clinicians serving Providence and Warwick have handheld police radios, and may get called to situations as they happen; collectively, they have responded to more than 600 encounters a year, The Providence Center reported in an earlier statement.
In addition to their day-to-day duties, Zira and Gouveia have worked to educate their respective departments and train new recruits. Gouveia chairs a monthly meeting that brings officers designated mental health specialists together to talk about strategies for responding to a person undergoing a psychiatric crisis.
“The addiction epidemic has taken a huge toll on all of Rhode Island’s communities, including West Warwick, and it’s been an issue we take very seriously,” Colonel John Magiera, West Warwick chief of police, said in a statement released before the press conference. “I believe that collaboration between law enforcement and local care providers like The Providence Center is an essential step in the effort to help those who are suffering from addiction. This will result in a healthier, and a safer, community.”
“This epidemic has no boundaries. It affects people of all ages and economic status. As law enforcement officers, we know we can’t arrest our way out of this issue,” Magiera said at the press conference. “With the introduction of Heather Seger, our behavioral health navigator, we’ll create a system in which we can provide substance use training to our officers so they’re better informed to assist our citizens.”
“Nationally, estimates are that 90 percent of people with a substance use disorder do not get treatment. If Rhode Island is to turn the corner on this epidemic, we need to do a lot of things, but clearly, we need to help more people get connected with treatment and recovery supports,” Seger said to a group of some 30 individuals in attendance. “People are understandably hesitant to place trust in law enforcement when struggling with substance use because, historically, it has been associated with arrest or incarceration. With the help of this department and support of our community partners, we’re working to change the culture.”
Funds from the Rhode Island Foundation will pay for a second police clinician at the Providence Police Department, who will begin work at the department later this month.
Nancy Kirsch is a PBN contributing writer.
