A month after relaunching a citywide homeless outreach initiative, officials in Springfield, Massachusetts, say the city's getting federal funds to boost its efforts.
Springfield officials say over a million dollars in grant funds will help support the return of Project HOPE, the city's Homeless Outreach Provider Engagement program, and build on it.
Mayor Domenic Sarno says the $1.3 million dollars is coming via the Department of Justice's Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Site-Based Program, or COSSUP.
It will cover a three-year period, effective Oct. 1 of this year, with the grant seeking to "improve access to treatment and recovery services for people with substance use disorders who are homeless."
Sarno says it will build on work the city is already doing - allowing it to put a Behavioral Health Network clinician in the local courthouse, providing what officials call "pre-arraignment support."
“The grant will fund a full-time clinician from BHN to be present in Springfield District Court and, here's the key thing, the clinician will be available to meet with people who have been recently arrested, to assess the need for substance use treatment, recovery, support and connect individuals directly to services,” he said during a press conference Tuesday.
Project HOPE 2.0 was announced in early November - a relaunch of an outreach program dating back to 2015. It returned after apparently petering out sometime during the pandemic.
The work, now covered in-part by the grant, involves BHN clinical workers teaming up with Springfield police during evening and nighttime hours, reaching out to the unsheltered and connecting them with services they need.
The work also includes a full-time social worker within the police department coordinating care and more.
Said social worker was on hand Tuesday - Stephanie Tonelli, who was part of the previous iteration of Project HOPE.
“I do serve as a liaison between the Springfield PD,” the HOPE program manager told WAMC. “They are not social workers, so they rely on the resources that I might be able to provide. This time around, I think it's a little different. Before, I was stationed out of Metro and exclusive to the [Springfield Police] Metro unit. Now, the superintendent and the mayor have made it that it's a citywide effort, so I will be across the whole borders of Springfield.”
Having officially started a few weeks prior, Tonelli's work involves one of the key components of the outreach effort - following up with individuals police and BHN initially came in contact with.
She says some of the most important work involves checking in on their wellbeing and ensuring they're continuing to get resources when it comes to recovery services and more.
Her salary is also being covered by the grant, according to the city's director of housing, Gerry McCafferty, part of the grant writing team.
McCafferty adds the new funding also covers an element involving the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“There is also a research component of the grant,” she said during announcement. “The Department of Justice often wants this, and we're thrilled because … we have a researcher who will be our partner from UMass Amherst, who can help us see what's working well, maybe what's not, make corrections, but also, then really document what's successful here.”
The city previously announced Project HOPE 2.0 would have an annual budget of $236,000, covered by ARPA funds. McCafferty says the grant funds will be in addition to those dollars, making the program more robust, with more police and clinical workers potentially being added.
That Nov. 5 announcement also touched on a housing component, with the city saying it was working with the Center for Human Development on efforts to provide rental assistance and intensive services to people "moving off the streets and into housing."
According to McCafferty, the "Rapid Rehousing" program, funded by $1.5 million in HUD grants (HOME-ARP funds), started this week.
Dr. William Davila, CHD's Vice President of Diversion, Shelter and Housing, tells WAMC that at full capacity, his team is expecting to support anywhere from 17 to 20 clients in the near-future, receiving case management services and other means of support for up to two years.
