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Boston Globe

How public health — not handcuffs — can heal Mass. and Cass

I am deeply familiar with the challenges at Mass. and Cass and do not dismiss their severity. I am a lifelong Bostonian who experienced street homelessness and substance-use disorder. As an adolescent, I spent time in juvenile detention because of my substance use, and I was court-ordered into involuntary treatment for nearly a year. As an adult, I began working in the substance-use field, serving as policy director for the City of Boston's Office of Recovery Services for five years. Advertisement In the years since I left my city role, I have been Advertisement Many South End residents — along with This shift is mirrored nationally. President Trump recently signed an executive order, Some local leaders have been eerily silent about how much federal interference they would support at Mass. and Cass. When More criminalization will not improve Mass. and Cass, however. We cannot simply lock complicated social issues away. America has a long history of political decisions creating harmful and inhumane policies. Before the 1960s, involuntary commitment was the only way Americans dealt with mental health and substance-use disorders. The threshold for Advertisement People were most often institutionalized by police. By the 1930s, police officers were responsible for Public opinion started to turn against involuntary commitment in the 1950s. Americans rightly considered it to be cruel and ineffective. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson both facilitated changes to involuntary commitment through landmark civil rights and health care legislation. In 1967, California's Ronald Reagan was the These days, an incarcerated person is 40 to 129 times as likely as the general public Advertisement Growing economic inequality, soaring housing costs, and dwindling living-wage jobs have led to Americans must prioritize public health policies that have caused a Boston should replicate the Boston has a much lower rate of unsheltered people compared to the national average, but there is more work to do. The city should expand congregate housing options that allow residents to cohabitate with a partner or pet; Victory Programs' Advertisement If locking people up for using drugs or being unhoused were effective, it would have worked by now. Americans can only address homelessness and problematic drug use by following public health data and investing accordingly. A Band-Aid is not enough to treat a bullet wound. If we spend less time and money criminalizing poor people and more on proven public health measures, we'd all be healthier and safer.