History Of Our Program:
In March of 2021, the Hingham Police Department contacted the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office to inquire about funding for the acquisition of a Comfort Dog for the Hingham Community. After researching the benefits that a comfort dog could provide to law enforcement and their respective communities, District Attorney Tim Cruz awarded the Hingham Police Department with a Comfort Dog mini-grant to start a pilot project that quickly expanded into the Plymouth County Comfort Dogs Program.
District Attorney Cruz developed the Plymouth County Comfort Dogs Program to provide additional services and resources to all communities within Plymouth County. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office provides a mini-grant to Plymouth County Police Departments to assist with costs associated with acquiring, training and caring for their comfort dog.
Our Design:
Our program is designed to be implemented by either the local School Resource Officer or the Police Department’s Community Outreach Officer, who in turn become the dog’s handler and sole caretaker. Both the handler and the comfort dog become members of the Plymouth County Comfort Dogs Program and are required to undergo all necessary trainings in the certification process to qualify as a comfort and community resource dog. Both the handler and comfort dog are available to assist not only in their community, but in all communities across Plymouth County as part of our regional response team.
About Our Program:
Our network of Plymouth County Comfort Dogs are present in our schools to provide emotional support for students during the day, and the community at night and on weekends. Our handler and comfort dog teams work with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office staff at community events across Plymouth County and in the future, will also provide comfort services at our Children’s Advocacy Center and office. Our comfort dog teams are on hand as part of our regional response team to provide mutual aid to communities in times of crisis.
Our Purpose:
The opioid crisis has greatly affected not only Massachusetts, but Plymouth County in particular. Our county has unfortunately witnessed thousands of overdoses and overdose deaths, many of whom were young adults. The ripple effect extends far into the community as family, friends, neighbors, and schools try to cope with the aftermath. Our comfort dogs are proving to be a tremendous asset by providing comfort services to those in their community who have been affected by these ripples.
The mission and purpose of the Plymouth County Comfort Dogs Program is to provide comfort and emotional support for the well-being of Drug Endangered Children, students with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and others that require this service within the Plymouth County community.
Our Expansion:
Currently, we have 22 trauma-and-crisis trained dogs and handlers in our program.
In January 2024, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office received approval for a change of scope to our existing DOJ / BJA-COSSUP Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative Grant. The DOJ approved the reallocation of $447,000.00 to the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program for training, equipment and an academic evaluation of our program for 17 of our comfort dogs that regularly visit our K-12 schools.
In October 2024, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office applied for further funding through the DOJ/ BJA Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) for the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program, and received an additional award of $1.6 million dollars in funding for up to 27 dogs. This new grant will enable us to strengthen, improve and expand our existing program with the overarching goal of reducing the impact of illicit opioids, stimulants and other substances on youth and families in our community.
With grant funding, the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program will undertake prevention intervention efforts that seek to reduce the harms associated with ACEs among individuals who have already experienced them and provide support for building protective factors against potential harmful experiences. The objectives of our project are to (1) enhance the depth and quality of collaboration between law enforcement, service providers and school systems; (2) expand substance use education and prevention programming that connects law enforcement with youth; (3) increase access to drug take back programs for the community at large; (4) conduct evaluation to assess program impact.
Beyond prevention programming for K-12 students, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office will also work with Bridgewater State University to provide substance use education and prevention efforts on campus.
Additionally, our Plymouth County Comfort Dogs will attend community events across Plymouth County and will regularly visit our senior centers and hospitals upon request.