House Bill 621 allows local first responders to establish peer support programs.

Ted Ryle, director of medical and behavioral health for Juvenile Rehabilitation (DCYF), said a new Medicaid service — reentry targeted case management — began activating coverage March 1 for young people preparing for June releases. The service covers 90 days pre-release and 90 days post-release and will use psychiatric social workers, managed care organizations and peer supports to coordinate care.

CPO volunteers who are formerly incarcerated share vivid personal accounts—ranging from chronic alcoholism to relapsing in custody—to normalize disclosure, reduce shame, and model recovery during eight‑week groups inside Massachusetts prisons.

Jail staff and participants described the HEART (Helping Each Other Align Recovery Together) program as a jail–community partnership providing medication, therapy, peer support and case management to connect people with opioid use disorder to services after release.

Recovery Connections told the Together in Partnership Committee it will open a recovery center in Brevard and deploy mobile peer support teams; the group described retention, participant counts and partnerships in four counties.

Participants described a United Nations-affiliated network that connects uniformed women across military, police, justice and corrections components to share experiences, run mostly online programs, surface gaps in deployment support, and strengthen collective influence on peacekeeping policy.

Vermont establishes a pilot program for peer-to-peer mental health grants in schools.

Tipton enhances mental health support through skills trainers in schools and community programs.

The committee released legislation providing $500,000 for Cop2Cop, the statewide confidential peer-support hotline for law enforcement, after extensive testimony about rising officer suicide and demand for prevention, intervention and postvention services.