Paterson begins drug intervention program

Municipal court launches state-funded initiative

By: Joe Malinconico
Paterson Press

PATERSON - The city's Municipal Court this month [11/2023] began holding special Wednesday afternoon sessions designed to help nonviolent drug offenders recover from their substance abuse problems.
..... The voluntary program, overseen by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, allows people accused of Municipal court-level crimes involving their substance abuse to go through treatment and possibly get their charges dismissed or downgraded.
...6.. The effort essentially replicates the Recovery Court program that New Jersey has run in its Superior Courts involving more serious crimes for the past three decades. Paterson is one of six places that state officials picked for a Municipal Court pilot program called "Opt for Help and Hope."
..... The city became the first to launch the program on November 8. [2023]
..... "People who are dependent on narcotics or other substances and commit non-violent crimes need help, not a criminal record that can interfere with their chances of recovering from the disease of addiction," said Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
..... "Paterson is the perfect place to start this program," Platkin added.
....."We ask our officers to treat the people they encounter in their day the same way they would expect another officer to treat a member of their family, and through this we can offer compassion over incarceration for those who want to begin their recovery journey and reclaim their lives."
..... Officials have not yet compiled statistics on the cases covered in the first two Paterson sessions.
..... Mayor Andre Sayegh did not respond when asked for his thoughts on the attorney general's initiative. Sayegh has been touting his own "RealFix" program, which provides opioid addicts going through withdrawal with medication that's supported to eliminate their urges.
..... RealFix is being paid for though a $1 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

How is Opt for Help funded?

..... Opt for Help is funded with money from the settlement of litigation with McKinsey and Company, which allegedly was involved in false advertisements of opioid products, state officials said.
..... The Paterson pilot program is getting $333,333 under a grant that goes through February 2025.
..... State officials referred questions about exactly how that money will be spent to the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.
..... But Prosecutor Camelia Valdes did not provide any tails of the spending.
..... The Prosecutor's Office is working with a Morris County-based substance treatment program called Prevention is Kev Incorporated on the initiative.
..... As part of the program, Paterson police officers have gone through training to help them identify people who have been arrested on municipal-level crimes who might be candidates for Opt for Help.
..... "Police officers are often on the front lines of many crises in the continuity, including helping people with substance sue disorder issues," said Isa Abbassi, whom Platkin appointed as officer in charge of the Paterson Police Department during the sate takeover.
..... Five other municipal courts in New Jersey will be rolling out the Opt for Help program in the next several months: the Central Municipal Court of Atlantic, Pemberton, East Orange, Hamilton and Franklin Township

..... Joe Malinconcio is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com.

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