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THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Haverhill Gazette - 3/1/2018
Blodgett proposes drug court for city
It can save money, but more importantly it can turn around and even save a person's life.
That's the goal of a program called "drug court" - a type of intensive probation that can help drug addicts who are repeat offenders avoid jail time and get their lives back on track.
Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, in partnership with other high-ranking court officials, is looking to introduce a drug court to Haverhill District Court, after an $8 million courthouse renovation is completed and the building reopens.
According to the state, the renovations should be substantially completed sometime this summer.
Court officials say drug courts help reduce the revolving door of people repeatedly committing crimes and being put on probation, by addressing the underlying reason of why they were involved in crime.
Those who are accepted into the program must engage in treatment and do whatever the drug court judge says, in conjunction with a team of professionals who rigorously monitor each participant's activities.
Participants attend drug court sessions as often as once a week for 12 to 18 months, and are regularly drug-tested and monitored to ensure compliance.
Drug courts are seen as an important tool, although not the only one, in addressing the opiate crisis.
Blodgett, who serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, said that two years ago he started the discussion about a Haverhill drug court with Judge Paul Dawley, chief justice of the district court system; Judge Mary Hogan Sullivan, director of specialty courts for Massachusetts district courts; and Haverhill police Chief Alan DeNaro.
Blodgett said that in 2016, Haverhill had the third-highest number of fatal overdoses in the county, behind Lynn and Lawrence.
He said the renovation of the district court building has slowed down implementation of the drug court there.
"They (drug courts) are an effective tool to provide drug treatment and other services to people who are suffering from the disease of addiction," Blodgett said. "Given the increased number of fatal overdoses in Haverhill and the increase in violence that is associated with the drug trade, it makes sense to introduce another treatment opportunity into the community."
The Trial Court of Massachusetts currently has 45 specialty courts, which include 26 drug courts, seven mental health courts, five veterans treatment courts, three juvenile drug courts, two homeless courts, one family drug court and one family resolutions specialty court, court officials said.
Drug courts in Massachusetts are overseen by Judge Mary Hogan Sullivan.
"The people we target are high risk, including those with significant substance abuse disorders who cannot stop using drugs and are committing criminal offenses because of their substance abuse disorder," Hogan Sullivan told The Eagle-Tribune. "And they are people who have been in the criminal justice system for some time.
"Were it not for this program, they probably would end up in the house of correction," she said.
Hogan Sullivan says there's a great need in Haverhill for a drug court.
"We have a lot of national data that says drug courts save lives and money," she said, "and we have data that shows that in Massachusetts, we have a significant reduction in recidivism for people who complete drug court."
Hogan Sullivan said that reduction in recidivism can translate into a reduction in the costs of crimes and costs of incarceration.
During Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey's recent testimony before the Legislature's Joint Ways & Means Committee, she said drug courts were created to "end the revolving door of drug addicted people cycling in and out of incarceration by addressing their underlying substance abuse disorder."
Carey noted that "powerful and deadly opiates are bringing devastation we have never seen before."
She said that in 2017, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. tragically reached an all-time high of 71,600.
"By comparison, the United States suffered 58,000 casualties during the Vietnam War," Carey said. "Drugs now kill more people than guns, car accidents and suicides combined."
Carey told legislators that data on 828 drug court participants across the state shows that of the 36 percent of participants who successfully completed drug court, only 27 percent (one out of four) of them picked up a new criminal charge.
"This is a remarkable reduction in recidivism for such a high-risk, high-need group who typically recidivate at a rate of 60 to 65 percent," Carey said. "For the balance who were not successful and who were terminated from drug court participation, 61.6 percent had a new charge within one year. Two others died."
In drug court, a judge leads a designated and trained team of professionals that typically includes a court clinician, a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, as well as probation officer (who is key) or more than one probation officer. The team can also include treatment providers and, in some cases, a law enforcement member, depending on the community.
Recovery coaches could be part of the team as well, Hogan Sullivan said.
Hogan Sullivan explained that a typical drug court participant is a person who has a serious substance abuse disorder and is facing jail time, and is willing to participate in a rigorous court-ordered program that includes weekly sessions in drug court along with regular meetings with a probation officer.
She said the program has adjusted its testing to include fentanyl and carfentanil - two highly potent narcotics that have contributed to many overdose deaths.
Those who successfully complete the program are usually invited to attend a graduation ceremony, or they might celebrate individually with family.
Hogan Sullivan said clinicians develop a treatment plan and participants must attend self-help meetings.
"If they don't comply, there is a consequence, but we emphasize incentives over sanctions," she said.
Carey told legislators that an additional $3.9 million will help create 15 more specialty courts, including 10 drug courts.
She said the money will help properly staff drug courts and provide transportation, so that participants can access the court as well as treatment sessions.
Additional money will also support drug testing that can detect the latest strains of synthetic heroin and designer drugs being developed "faster than we can design tests for them."
Hogan Sullivan said that in preparation for launching a drug court in Haverhill, District Court Judge Stephen Abany will be identifying members of his team, who will attend drug court training in March.
For a video on drug courts, presented by Blodgett, visit YouTube and search for "Drug Courts: Accountability and Help for the Repeat Offender."
- Mike LaBella
Men from Maine held on $50,000 cash bail
Police said the two men from Maine they arrested recently at an Interstate 495 rest area in Haverhill hid heroin and cocaine behind a panel inside the car they were found sleeping in.
Police said that while waiting for a tow truck to arrive, the men joked about wishing they were "banging rails" and "blowing rails," alluding to snorting narcotics.
At their arraignments on Tuesday of last week in Haverhill District Court, Joshua Blodgett, 26, of Skowhegan, Maine, and Shane Lunt, 25, of Benton, Maine, were charged with trafficking in heroin and trafficking in cocaine.
Lunt was also charged with furnishing a false name/Social Security number, police said.
During their hearings, Assistant District Attorney Tom Sholds told Judge Patricia Dowling that both men have criminal records involving drugs. He requested they each be held on $100,000 cash bail.
Defense lawyer Timothy Connors told the judge that his client, Blodgett, could only afford $5,000 cash bail, while defense lawyer Andrew Benson said his client, Lunt, could only afford $1,000.
Dowling set bail at $50,000 on each defendant and scheduled a probable cause hearing for March 14. Dowling also issued both men a 90-day warning.
State police patrolling a rest area in Haverhill on I-495 north said they discovered the men with 101 grams of cocaine and 51 grams of heroin in a car that was registered to a Fairfield, Maine, woman.
About 3 a.m. Sunday, Trooper Matthew Zahoruiko and Trooper Christopher Ryan said they spoke with two men in a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu parked illegally at a rest stop on I-495 north, just before Exit 52. The troopers noted in their report that the car was parked parallel to the curb, and not horizontally per the designated lines.
According to a police report on file at Haverhill District Court, police said the Haverhill rest area is located just north of narcotics source cities such as Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill, and is on the way to narcotics destination areas such as New Hampshire and Maine.
The report noted that the rest area is frequently used by narcotics users and traffickers, and that numerous narcotics related arrests by troopers out of the Newbury Barracks have been made there.
The troopers approached the car and found both men asleep, police said. They said Blodgett's pants were unbuttoned, his zipper was down and open and his belt was undone. Lunt, the front-seat passenger, awoke and rolled down his window to speak with the officers.
The men told police they had been working at a construction site in Stamford, Connecticut, but could not recall when they had left that state. The troopers said they noticed signs of drug use in the vehicle, including several torn "corner baggies" and residue.
Police checked Blodgett's background, which indicated multiple narcotics-related charges, including possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and possession of cocaine, for which which he served eight months in jail. Under further questioning, Lunt initially gave the officers a false name, then gave them his real name.
A check of Lunt's background showed he had previously been convicted of trafficking in controlled drugs, police said.
Both men gave police inconsistent statements regarding their travel to and from Connecticut, the troopers stated in their report.
A search of the Malibu's glove box turned up a bag of heroin, which Lunt said was his and that he had paid a few hundred dollars for three grams of the drug in Connecticut. Police said it seemed to be an unusually large amount of money to pay for such a small quantity of drugs.
Police said they found a larger quantity of drugs in a plastic bag that was hidden behind a plastic floor panel next to the right side of the driver's side floor area. Police said the discovery of the hidden drugs appeared to bother Blodgett, who uttered a single profanity.
In total, police found two plastic bags containing 51.4 grams of heroin and two plastic bags containing 101.1 grams of cocaine. Police seized $361 in cash from Blodgett, and seized a GPS device and four cell phones that were inside the car.
Both men were taken to the Newbury State Police Barracks, where they were held on $50,000 cash bail pending their arraignments on Tuesday.
- Mike LaBella
$9M state loan helps city complete water project
The city is receiving a state loan of almost $9 million to complete repairs to a system which supplies water to almost all of Haverhill.
And while Haverhill officials are welcoming the money being issued through the Department of Environmental Protection'sDrinking Water State Revolving Fund, it will provide only a drop in the funding bucket, as other large-scale water projects and work related to stormwater drainage will remain a major budgetary obstacle in the coming years.
Robert Ward, head of the city's wastewater and water departments, said the money will complete the second phase of a project to renovate or replace 2.5 miles of 20-inch and 36-inch piping from the city's water treatment plant at Kenoza Lake, which he said provides water to 55,000 people.
Haverhill's population is around 62,000.
"The pipes feed water toward Main Street and once this phase is done, we'll have finished the project," said Ward.
He said the first phase of the project, which cost $2.5 million to complete, began in the summer of 2017 and was completed by December.
The $8.9 million loan comes from a program that has made more than $650 million available to Massachusetts communities this year. Cities and towns eligible for the drinking water fund will use the money to improve drinking water, update outdated drinking and wastewater infrastructure, and cut treatment plant energy use.
Ward said the city will enter into a 20-year, 2 percent interest loan agreement with the state, adding that the state will likely provide for a principal loan forgiveness grant of between 4 percent and 7 percent. Once completed, the entire treatment plant piping project will have addressed the needs of piping that was first installed in the late-1890s, according to Ward.
"Structurally, the piping is in good shape," said Ward. "In addition to putting new piping in place, we'll be cleaning and lining existing piping, depending on its condition."
A massive water main break last summer temporarily deprived city residents of water as the city lost between 5 million and 10 million gallons of water. Ward said the new piping work will include new valves, which can be shut in case of a future break.
While the money is enough to complete the water main project, ongoing projects related to the water treatment plant itself will continue to require large chunks of city money going forward.
Ward added that federally mandated improvements to the city's stormwater and combined sewer overflow systems are also looming for the city, though Ward said those improvements have been deferred.
"We're still incurring costs related to (stormwater) permitting. We budgeted about $500,000 for it last year," said Ward.
Members of Haverhill's legislative delegation praised the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker for assisting the city in completing the project. State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, a Methuen Democrat who represents most of Bradford and portions of Haverhill's west side, said Friday that there are few things more important to our quality of life than ensuring that we have clean drinking water.
"These low interest loans are critical to protecting and updating Haverhill's water infrastructure and drinking water for families throughout Haverhill and the Merrimack Valley," she said.
Haverhill Rep. Andy Vargas and Methuen Rep. Diana DiZoglio both thanked the Baker administration as well, adding that the money will help make Haverhill drinking water healthier and the system for dispersing that water more efficient.
- Peter Francis
Whittier to offer dental assisting training
Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School will use a $420,000 state grant to create a state-of-the art Allied Health Center for dental, medical assisting and health assisting students.
The Baker administration recently awarded $2.3 million in grants to seven high schools, including Whittier Regional. The school will use the money to buy new industry-standard equipment in a variety of fields, so students are better prepared for college and careers.
On Feb. 16, Whittier officials gathered at Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute to receive their grant from Gov. Charlie Baker.
"Skills Capital Grants make an enormous difference in the education and training students receive at schools across the commonwealth," Baker said. "These grants will have a lasting impact by ensuring more residents are able to move into rewarding careers and more companies have the skilled employees they need to grow."
'The dental assisting vocational program will be new to Whittier, and will launch in the fall following the completion of the new health center. Demolition is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks, and will increase the school's health occupations learning area from 3,500 square feet to 6,000 feet.
The new dental assisting program will feature dental chairs, analog and digital X-ray equipment, sterilization centers, autoclaves, wet model trimmers, polishing and grinding equipment and a denture processing center.
"With our new center, we will be meeting the growing demands of the health care professions," said vocational coordinator Bev DeSalvo. "Adding the dental assisting program will give our students the opportunity to learn an additional health occupations career path and provide a more state-of-the-art facility for all health occupations students."
Whittier's medical assisting program launched two years ago and trains students for clerical support jobs in the health field. The health assisting pathway is one of the school's original offerings, which prepares students for careers in direct patient care. Graduates of the program leave high school as a certified nursing assistant and can go on to college to become a nurse, school officials said.
Currently, 158 students are enrolled in the health occupations pathway (medical and health assisting). Nearly 100 percent of students every year obtain co-op jobs during their senior year, with many continuing in those jobs following graduation.
The Skills Capital Grant program supports vocational/technical training, upgrades and expansion of career technical education, and training of high-quality career pathway programs that are aligned with regional economic and workforce development job priorities for in-demand industries.
- Mike LaBella