Overview
- State and city leaders, in a Thursday announcement, said the House Ways and Means Committee will direct $4 million to programs at Boston’s Mass. and Cass, the city’s most visible opioid crisis hotspot.
- The package sets $2.24 million for housing support for up to 200 people for as long as a year, $650,000 for contracted clinical staff, $500,000 for a Suffolk County DA pre‑arraignment diversion program, $460,000 for the Boston Public Health Commission, and $150,000 for a mobile operations vehicle.
- House Chair Aaron Michlewitz said the commitment will appear in the House budget next week, with program expansion to follow if lawmakers approve it.
- City officials said outreach teams have managed more than 890 cases and helped over 600 people enter inpatient treatment, and they report fewer crowds, fewer 311 calls, and fewer discarded needles near the intersection.
- Boston’s health chief said recent data show a 38% drop in opioid‑related deaths to the lowest level since 2015, though roughly 3,000 residents have died over the past decade.