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Date: 10/4/2022
NORTHAMPTON – An open house to celebrate the grand reopening of the Northampton Community Justice Support Center occurred on Sept. 28.
The center is one of 18 state agencies across the commonwealth that provide services to justice-involved individuals as an alternative to doing jail time.
According to John Leahy, the center’s program director, the Northampton agency is employed by the Hampshire County Sheriff Department but contracted by the Office of Community Corrections to offer treatment, education and job development services for probationers, parolees and other justice-involved individuals. The center also assists with finding housing, health services, childcare and more.
“We have these centers across the state, and we’re really trying to promote safe and stronger communities,” said Vin Lorenti, the director of community corrections for the state’s Probation Service. “We believe that we can do that by impacting people in those communities in positive ways so they can stay in community with their loved ones, rather than have the unfortunate circumstances of having to visit the sheriff at the jail.”
Lorenti said that a major goal of these centers is to figure out how to solve problems for people through different avenues, whether that means helping them through recovery from drug or alcohol addiction, trying to help through cognitive behavioral interventions, assisting them with finding a career path in line with their interests or educational support like finding post-secondary education.
“We want to focus on evidence-based practices,” said Lorenti. “There’s a lot of research out there that tells us we can make really strong and positive interventions with people in the community…we can lower recidivism, and we can do it sometimes at one-tenth of the cost of incarceration.”
Currently, 600 people are taking part in these programs across the state, with at least 1,100 referred each year. According to Leahy, the center in Northampton had to begin offering their programs virtually for much of the coronavirus pandemic, but they have been able to transition back to a hybrid format where some programs are virtual, while others are in-person at the center.
“We focus on the autonomy of the person that comes in here,” added Lorenti. “In other words, we can help them and support them, but at the end of the day, we have to empower them to make their own choices.”
Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick Cahillane noted how there is a 22-year history of probation in the county. “The people that remain in this community that don’t have to go to the jail, this is what this is about,” said Cahillane. “The community justice support is an important factor in what the overall function of corrections should be.”
Cahillane added that corrections should not be about jails and prisons but rather should focus on holistic approaches like working with local substance use organizations or with other local entities.
“It requires all of us rolling up our sleeves and working together,” said Cahillane. “No one entity can work on this alone.”