Ex-Montco law enforcers educate first responders
LOWERMERION » A former Montgomery County narcotics detective and a prosecutor who spent many years together fighting the scourge of the opioid epidemic have joined forces again, this time to train and educate first responders statewide about the causes of substance use disorder and the tools to fight the epidemic.
Stephen J. Forzato, a former county detective who is now the inaugural director of the Center for Addiction and Recovery Education (CARE) at Saint Joseph’s University, and former county prosecutor Tonya Lupinacci will collaborate to train first responders how to link people to treatment.
“As part of our holistic mission at CARE, we aim to foster education, research, public policy, conversation and action. This par-
ticular initiative enables us to help first responders become more skilled in connecting people to drug and alcohol treatment resources in their local areas, which benefits individuals, families and communities,” Forzato said.
“We’re hoping to educate them about what the opioid epidemic is, to provide resources on how to connect people to treatment as well as educate them about the stigma and implicit bias that surrounds those who suffer from this disorder,” added Lupinacci, who recently wrapped up 17 years as a county prosecutor.
Forzato, who worked three decades with the Montgomery County Narcotics Enforcement Team targeting drug dealers, was hired as director of CARE in October 2019. As a prosecutor, Lupinacci often led the charge in the fight against the county’s opioid crisis and put those who peddled the drugs behind bars.
CARE recently received a $1.2 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide the first responder education and training to agencies in the state’s 67 counties.
The funds, directed from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant to Pennsylvania, will train the groups on the topics of substance use disorder, the use of naloxone, and, importantly, stigma and implicit bias. CARE was founded with the goal to facilitate those types of initiatives, leveraging connections between interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners to address complex issues of addiction and promote recovery, officials said.
“It’s not to make them social workers but to give them an understanding of substance use disorder from a perspective that hopefully will cause them to be even more compassionate toward those suffering from this disease,” explained Forzato, who as an undergraduate at Penn State University in 1985 participated in an internship at a treatment center in New York City where he performed outreach work and learned about the disease of addiction.
TRAINING FIRST RESPONDERS
The community-level Phoenix Training Program course “Addiction and Connection to Treatment: Tools for First Responder to Fight the Opioid Epidemic,” will be provided at no cost to first responders, including law enforcement, emergency medical services providers, firefighters and related professionals who have regular contact with persons in need of assistance. That includes prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers, judges, probation and parole officers and correctional officers.
Pennsylvania has more than 4,000 agencies and more than 40,000 active first responders, according to Forzato. At a minimum, the center and its partners expect to train a total of 76 agencies over the span of the grant.
“At a time when almost half of Americans’ lives have been affected by addiction, it’s more important than ever to launch the Phoenix Training program and educate first responders on the causes and tools to fight the opioid epidemic,” Forzato said.
Training sessions began this month, which is National Recovery Month, a national observance that highlights gains made by those living in recovery, and will continue through at least August 2022.
The grant provides funds to hire a dozen trainers who will present programs, or peer-led training, to first responders.
“Many of my trainers are in recovery themselves or have been personally affected by the opioid epidemic and I think they are effective communicators of these topics,” Forzato said.
Forzato hopes to provide training programs for first responders in Montgomery, Chester, Berks, Bucks and Delaware counties.
“We are, weekly, getting more requests for training. We anticipate reaching police in all of Montgomery County,” said Forzato, who has discussed the program with his former boss
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele. “We plan to reach all of the first responders in Montgomery County.”
Four training sessions, likely to be virtual during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, are already scheduled at the Abington Police Training Center for first responders countywide and two are scheduled at the Hatboro Police Department.
Forzato pointed out it’s not only police, fire and EMS whose professions intersect with the public, but it’s also prosecutors, judges and lawyers.
“All of these professions are also on the frontline of the opioid epidemic,” Forzato said. “We are glad to train any professional who intersects with the public.”
“Many, many attorneys connect with people every day who are suffering from substance use disorder, whether it’s criminal, family or civil. There are many attorneys out there asking for this type of program,” Lupinacci said. “They want to educate themselves about it and want to know where the resources are and how to connect their clients to resources.”
With that in mind, a four-hour training program will be offered for members of the Montgomery Bar Association on Oct. 23 for continuing legal education credits for legal professionals. The training may be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The beauty of this program is being able to connect with as many different facets in our professional communities to help people…so people who are suffering can be connected to treatment and hopefully find a journey to recovery,” Lupinacci said. “There really is a need for it.”
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, a nationally recognized addiction treatment, mental health and advocacy organization, will collaborate with the center on curriculum content development and training.
Stephen Delisi, medical director of professional education solutions at Hazelden Betty Ford, said the organization is honored to work with the university to bring the program to first responders.
“They are often called upon to play a pivotal, frontline role in addressing the public health issues of substance use disorder and mental health,” Delisi said. “We understand and appreciate the difficulty of first responders’ jobs and the passion they have for the communities they serve. We look forward to supporting their efforts to develop new and expanded approaches to taking care of the community and themselves.”
Additional information about the program or training sessions can be found by visiting the university’s website and