Offenders

involvement on Monday.

The voluntary program for 18- to 26-yearolds arrested for nonviolent, minor drug possession charges seeks to deter offenders from escalating their drug use and to prevent more serious arrests that often accompany drug addiction and lead to criminal records.

“The drug epidemic we are facing is so widespread across Montgomery County that we cannot simply arrest our way out of it,” Steele said. “Fighting it requires innovative approaches on multiple fronts to try to stem the progression from low-level drug use to heroin use and addiction to a potential overdose victim.

“This program can save young people from the slippery slope of drug use and addiction, thereby protecting their futures,” Steele added.

Officials estimated that about five to 10 criminal cases a month will qualify for the program in the Upper Perkiomen Valley.

“We need to be innovative in our approach to overcome this epidemic. We need ways to serve and help our people, all of our people,” Devlin said. “It is not our job to arrest everyone we encounter, but ultimately to stop criminal behavior. There are many ways for law enforcement to intervene in a situation, especially when it involves a young person’s first encounter with the criminal justice system.”

Devlin hopes implementing the program can help stem the tide of addiction for youth in the Upper Perkiomen Valley.

“At the very least, it gives them the ability to get treatment and avoid having a criminal record, which could negatively affect their future prospects of getting an education or a job,” Devlin added.

With the expansion of the program to the Upper Perk area, officials are also joining forces with Project Live, a nonprofit organization formed in response to the growing number of people suffering from the effects of drug addiction in the Upper Perkiomen Valley. Steele said Project Live’s mission is to provide preventative, educational, social and rehabilitative support to those affected by substance use disorders.

The Upper Perkiomen Valley includes Green Lane, East Greenville, Red Hill and Pennsburg boroughs and Marlborough and Upper Hanover townships in Montgomery County and Hereford Township in Berks County.

Officials said the target audience for the program is that group of individuals who don’t have heavy criminal records yet, who are non-violent offenders, and who still have the opportunity to choose a different path, one that’s not going to lead them through the criminal justice system and the life of addiction and through a lot of hardship.

Those eligible for the program include young people who are charged with possession of a small amount of illegal drugs or those who have previously been arrested or whose convictions are for underage drinking, minor drug cases or minor theft cases.

During participation in the program, the offender’s criminal case will be suspended and participants will not be arrested, which means they will not be processed or fingerprinted and no criminal record will be created as long as they successfully complete the program.

Criminal records, even for minor offenses, can often hinder young people searching for jobs or applying to colleges, officials said.

Officials previously said more than 200 county residents died from drug-related causes in 2016, an increase over 2015 figures when 177 people died of drug-related causes. Steele has made fighting the opioid and heroin epidemic one of his office’s number one priorities.

Participants in the program meet with police, prosecutors and a local district court judge and undergo a drug and alcohol assessment. Participants will attend drug abuse prevention presentations provided by professionals and counselors in the addiction field and recovering addicts who are partnering with law enforcement in the program.

A presentation on the medical consequences of drug use will be provided by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and participants also will observe Judge Steven T. O’Neill’s Drug Treatment Court.

Participants will be subject to random drug testing and must remain drug-free and arrest-free during the program and for six months following completion of all requirements.

If a participant drops out of the program, is dismissed from the program or fails to remain drug-free, they will be arrested and prosecuted on the original charges.

If the program continues to show success in Lower Providence and the Upper Perkiomen Valley, Steele said he’d look for partners to expand it to other jurisdictions in the county.

During the last several years, county public safety, medical, public health, education and law enforcement officials have launched numerous initiatives to battle drug abuse and to raise awareness, including: establishing an overdose task force; implementing a program that makes Naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug, available to police departments, emergency medical responders, pharmacies and families at risk of an overdose; establishing a drug treatment court; and sponsoring prescription drug disposal programs.