Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and Norfolk County Sheriff Work to Improve Probation, Parole Path to Rehabilitation

Justice by OhLizz from Flickr

Editor's note: The following article was submitted to Westwood Minute by the Norfolk County Sheriff's Office.

Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott was invited to attend a roundtable discussion on sensible and fair probation and parole practices hosted by the REFORM Alliance along with Patriots Owner Robert Kraft, Joshua Kraft, and Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. Hosted at Gillette Stadium on October 12th, the Sheriff shared practices and programs that the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office has to improve probation and parole experiences for justice-involved individuals.

“At the NCSO, we are always looking for ways to rehabilitate justice-involved individuals in a manner that reduces jail time as much as possible and provides individuals the resources and support they need to improve their lives,” said Sheriff McDermott. “I appreciate having the opportunity to share our best practices and learn from other experts about ways to improve probation and parole systems.”

Sheriff McDermott shared with participants how the Sheriff’s Office has had to think creatively to help justice-involved individuals take ownership over their rehabilitation.  This includes the NCSO’s pre-trial justice program, which partners with Community Resources for Justice through a $50,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation.  The grant provides support to offenders who are in custody for technical violations of their probation and who are looking to move back into the community under NCSO supervision. 

The Sheriff also discussed the NCSO’s collaboration with the Quincy Drug Court that helps to expedite community treatment for justice-involved individuals who are on a waiting list.  Through the collaboration, the individuals are transferred to NCSO care for assessment and placement into bed spaces with the Gavin Foundation. This program gets individuals into recovery and rehabilitation quicker and reduces the amount of time they are exposed to triggers and threats to their recovery while they wait.

The REFORM Alliance was founded in 2019 by Robert Kraft, Michael Rubin, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, and Meek Mill in order to transform probation and parole.  It seeks to do so by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing. The roundtable discussion was organized as an opportunity to learn from Massachusetts agencies, such as the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office, regarding the development of fair and sensible probation and parole practices.

Thanks to Norfolk County Sheriff's Office for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.

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