SOMERVILLE DISTRICT COURT PROBATION DEPARTMENT’S

RECOVERY PROGRAM CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY

Featured in photo left to right are First Assistant Chief Probation Officer Maureen McEachern, Associate Probation Officer Jessica Grassia, Probation Officer Damon Banks. Second row: Assistant Chief Probation Officer Brian W. Harris and Probation Officer Arthur Sousa. Third row: Probation Officer II Terrence Lee, Probation Officer II Linda Donovan, and Probation Officer II James Bailey. Not featured in photo are Probation Officers John Keefe and Maureen McCole.

The Somerville District Court Probation Department’s Recovery Program—which features seven substance abuse and mental health-related programs—recently celebrated a decade of providing services to the area’s drug and alcohol addicted.

There is a substance abuse program being offered both during the day and evening at the white-pillared courthouse. More sessions are held off-site at locations throughout Somerville and Medford, according to Somerville District Court Chief Probation Officer Richard J. Antonelli.

“The program has been a great success if measured by the graduates and their continued sobriety. Several graduates continue to attend the program on a voluntary basis,” Antonelli said.

Somerville Probation’s Recovery Program was established after former Somerville Chief Probation Officer Arthur W. Graham, with the encouragement of retired First Justice Paul P. Heffernan, assigned Probation Officer Maureen McEachern to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting.

“The rest is history,” Antonelli said. “The Program continued under First Justice Maurice R. Flynn III and retired Chief Probation Officer Richard F. Carino who utilized the program as an opportunity for probationers to reach for abstinence.”

Currently, there are more than 100 men and women enrolled in the programs at the court. Approximately 800 individuals have gone through the programs, according to McEachern, who is now First Assistant Chief Probation Officer at Somerville District Court.

The Probation Department offered one of the first substance abuse counseling programs specifically for women suffering with drug and/or alcohol issues, according to McEachern.

“We realized there was a real need for a program like this for women-especially mothers. Because of the responsibilities women have, they didn't always focus on themselves first,” McEachern said.

The Somerville Probation Recovery Program also boasts several success stories.

Adam Taylor is one of those success stories. Taylor, a substance abuse counselor, said the counseling sessions he participated in at Somerville helped him turn his life around and has made him the person he is today.

“I wouldn't be where I am if they (Somerville District Probation Officers) didn't use the intervention techniques they used on me 10 years ago. I'm married, have a home, and I have over eight and half years of being sober and recovery,” said Taylor. “They saved my life. Maureen McEachern is great. I continue to stay in touch with her. She is so committed. The whole Somerville District Probation team is great. I've stayed in touch with them throughout my whole recovery.”

Somerville Probation’s Recovery Program is a partnership, according to Antonelli, whose partners include Arbor Counseling in Malden; CASPAR, an acronym for Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcohol Rehabilitation which is based in Cambridge; and Somerville Mental Health in Somerville.

Representatives from each of the groups meet each week to discuss and plan for the seven separate programs offered each week. Most programs are open enrollment and offered on a 10-week cycle.

The Probation Officers who help run Somerville Probation’s Recovery Program include McEachern, Assistant Chief Probation Officer Brian W. Harris, Probation Officer II James Bailey, Probation Officer Damon Banks, Probation Officer II Linda Donovan, Probation Officer John Keefe, Probation Officer II Terrence Lee, Probation Officer Maureen T. McCole, Probation Officer Arthur Sousa, and Associate Probation Officer Jessica Grassia.

“Probation Officers and therapists from the counseling agencies meet monthly to discuss various pertinent issues which gives the Probation Officer first-hand knowledge of a probationer’s progress or relapse,” said Antonelli. “Probation Officers have utilized the Office of Community Corrections-Level III and IV as a corrective tool in case of relapse and as an alternative to incarceration at surrender hearings.”

He added, “My Probation Officers are doing an outstanding job and are truly dedicated to the program and helping those who suffer with substance abuse and mental health-related problems.”

In addition to Somerville Probation’s Recovery Program, probationers with substance abuse issues also have the Middlesex County Community Corrections Center to turn to. The Middlesex Community Corrections Center, located in Cambridge, is one of 21 centers across the state where offenders must check-in regularly. The centers provide substance abuse treatment, GED preparation and job training. There is also a community service component offered which gives offenders, sentenced to community service by a judge, the opportunity to give back to the community by participating in projects such as the clean-up of parks, snow removal, the delivery of food to soup kitchens, and other meaningful community-focused projects.