The Worcester County Sheriff's Office's Substance Treatment Opportunity Program (S.T.O.P.) has a Pickleball program for incarcerated individuals.
The Pickleball program is a therapeutic tool for S.T.O.P. participants. While pickleball is a small part of day-to-day life for those actively participating in the intensive S.T.O.P. program, it promotes physical fitness and a sense of camaraderie within the housing unit.
PICL, or the Pickleball for Incarcerated Communities League, is spearheading the effort to bring pickleball into prisons and jails nationwide.
The S.T.O.P. program allows those who qualify to be removed from general population for the 3 or 6-month duration of the program and placed in a rehabilitation/treatment clinic housing unit. This separation eliminates the external pressures of being in general population for those struggling to achieve sobriety.
The multi-departmental effort works to address the root causes of addiction and co-occurring disorders while also setting individuals up for success beyond sobriety. The program is coupled with specialized classes and vocational opportunities, only seen in a select few correctional facilities in the country.
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