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| MGM’s casino plan threatens future of Western Mass. Correctional Alcohol Center |
| By dailycollegian.com- Sam Fountain |
| Published: 02/12/2015 |
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In early August 2014, police arrived at a one-car accident on I-91 in Hatfield, Mass. The car, carrying two injured passengers, one male and one female, had struck the median before coming to a halt on the highway, causing only minor injuries. The male, 20 years old, was able to walk out from the vehicle and speak to officers, telling them he was on his way home from a bar and that it was his girlfriend who had been driving the car. However, she was unconscious in the passenger seat. Officers reported the male smelled of alcohol and upon searching the car, noticed an open liquor bottle along with 17 beers in the back of the car. The man was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol. This was his third offense for drunken driving. He was already driving with a suspended license. A year earlier at age 19, he was also arrested for disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and assault and battery on a police officer stemming from an altercation at a bar in Deerfield. This past month, he was sentenced to 18 months to be served at the Hampshire County House of Corrections. Sadly, this story is not novel to anyone who reads news blogs or watches local news stations. The details may vary, but the overall story arc rarely does – a young person with substance abuse issues gets in trouble with the law, repeats his offense, goes to prison, is released, falls back into similar patterns of behavior and spends a significant portion of their life behind bars. In Massachusetts, however, there are efforts being made to break this cycle and potentially reverse tragic outcomes in the lives of hundreds of offenders. The Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center in downtown Springfield, known colloquially as “Howard Street” is one of these options. A part of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, the WMCAC houses 164 men and 18 women and combines prison time with substance abuse treatment, recovery and community engagement. The program believes in the disease theory of addiction, promoting abstinence as a route to recovery and using Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous as key tools. The program is intensive and focuses on community integration through their “escort” program in which inmates are brought out to community AA and NA meetings with a program “escort.” The directors of the program believe making strong ties to the community with inmates helps ensure recovery and aid in the transition once their time is served. Read More. |
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