FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2026   

Update JAN 15: SAMHSA reinstated the funding                                                                        

Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office loses federal addiction funding

BOURNE – The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office is among hundreds of agencies to last night receive termination letters from the Trump Administration for federal grants supporting addiction treatment services. Effective immediately, the Sheriff’s Office will no longer be receiving federal funding to support our Expanded Medication Assisted Treatment (EMAT) Program.

It was a five-year grant of $2.6 million slated to end September 29, 2026.

Funded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the EMAT program focused on providing case management, individual and group counseling, re-entry planning, and recovery coaching to both pre-trial and sentenced individuals with opioid use disorder. These services were provided both during incarceration and for six months post-release. EMAT provided evidence-based treatment to reduce opioid use rates through counseling, coaching, supervision and data collection. The BCSO collaborated with providers to ensure EMAT participants had access to services upon reentry to the community.  

“Addiction has a direct impact on public safety,” said Sheriff Donna D. Buckley. “Seventy percent of the people entrusted to the Barnstable County Correctional Facility have substance abuse disorders. The loss of this funding goes to the heart of our most important work. Addiction treatment during and post incarceration deprives drug dealers of return customers. It reduces homelessness, human trafficking and the spread of deadly diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis. It prevents more victims and more crime.”

The revocation of the grant will result in an immediate reduction in crucial recovery services at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility. The grant allowed us to employ recovery coaches, a clinician, and a program director. The impact of the loss of this grant is going to be felt throughout the facility and the community. With our current funding, the BCSO cannot absorb the full impact of the positions by funding them through the state payroll. We will be working diligently to find other ways to provide these services.

 “With this senseless cut by the Trump Administration, our streets will be less safe, the jails will be fuller, and the most vulnerable people will be at risk,” Buckley said.

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