Services over Sentences (SOS)

DA Hayden in 2022 announced $400,000 in funding for an expansion of the Services Over Sentences (SOS) program targeted at helping vulnerable individuals who reside in and around the Mass and Cass section of Boston.  The appropriation came from the office’s Asset Forfeiture Fund, which is made up of assets seized from drug dealers.  DA Hayden called the expenditure “a fitting use of assets seized from drug dealers to directly address the most visible and problematic drug-related geographic area in Massachusetts today.” The program has since received funding from the Legislature and Tufts Medical Center. The SOS program, run in conjunction with North Suffolk Community Services and other partners, is available in all courts, and will work with program participants at Mass and Cass and elsewhere on establishing a source of income, ensuring safe and stable housing, developing skills and educational training, ensuring access to healthy food and access to healthcare, detox and sobriety services.  The program helps identify and treat the factors involved in bringing individuals into the Mass and Cass area with the goal of providing the ability to leave it.