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.
Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe is a loud proponent of the WMCAC, saying it provides, “dignity and worth to every human being.” Sheriff Ashe also has stated that because 98 percent of inmates have substance abuse issues and 95 percent have no marketable skills, programs like the WMCAC are especially important because they create ties to the community that inmates can utilize once they are back on out the streets.
The future of the WMCAC is in question, however, as a result of recent real estate acquisitions for the MGM Casino Springfield development project. Both the facility itself and the property have been sold to MGM, and the program has been given until March 1 to vacate. The Hampden County Sheriff has stated that over $7 million is needed to relocate the program at full capacity, which is far beyond their given budget. The acquisition is a small part of the real estate recently purchased by the MGM in Springfield’s South End. As of January 5, MGM has purchased $42.6 million in South End real estate, all in preparation to commence building of the $800 million casino. The real estate investment proceeded rapidly after a ballot initiative attempting to block the casino project was voted down in November.
The initiative was defeated 59 percent to 41 percent in an election that saw campaign spending promoting the bill eclipse the opposition $12 million to $600,000. As part of their contract with the state, MGM must meet several legal obligations, including allocations of jobs for Springfield residents and diversity requirements for hiring with baselines for minorities, women and veterans. MGM must also fulfill good faith agreements to include the community and local legislature during the development of the casino.
I am not an opponent of the MGM Springfield project. MGM will bring thousands of jobs to a city with over 10 percent unemployment, and will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in capital for the state, which can in turn be used for public services such as education and public infrastructure. I am, however, cautious of giving MGM a blank check of public opinion regarding the impact on the community.
Programs like the WMCAC are of utmost importance when considering relocation of businesses and residents in the South End. It would be a shame and a disgrace if the program were forced to shut down as a result of the development of a casino, which at least symbolically represents the sort of addiction and negative behaviors the program is trying to reverse in its inmates.
The $7.5 million needed by the center to relocate fully functionally is a steep price and I don’t believe it should be paid for completely by the casino. They should at least contribute, however, to the costs, especially considering they may contribute some of the center’s future residents.
Sam Fountain is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected].
