On Saturday, December 10th,
the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office’s Office of Neighborhoods was awarded the
Snohomish County Human Rights Commission’s Law Award for its work in outreach
to the homeless to offer treatment for chemical dependency and mental illness.
Between the fall of 2015 and the
end of October 2016, the Office of Neighborhoods:
·
Secured housing for 57 individuals.
·
Secured detox treatment for 86 people, 72 of
whom successfully completed the program and moved to inpatient drug treatment,
an 84% success rate.
·
Helped 60 county residents obtain identification
cards.
·
Arranged for chemical dependency assessments for
67 people.
·
Signed up 33 people for health insurance.
The American Red Cross also
awarded the Office of Neighborhoods a Humanitarian Award for their work at the
annual Snohomish County Heroes Breakfast held on Thursday, February 8th.
The effort to help the
chronically homeless to find housing and enter treatment for addiction and/or
mental illness supports crime prevention in Snohomish County. While all
homeless may not be involved with property crime, helping them to learn to
control their addictions or mental health issues helps them and the community
to maintain a safe environment. Just as locking your doors and participating in
a neighborhood watch helps prevent crime, the Office of Neighborhood’s efforts
prevent crime by taking away the motivation for crime; the addiction to drugs,
especially heroin. Heroin addiction does not reside solely with the homeless,
it is rampant throughout our society. But this effort is a start to help those
without the resources to help themselves.
Congratulations to the Office of
Neighborhoods!
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office:
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