Vermont towns try new model to tackle overlapping issues of crime, addiction and homelessness

A few weeks ago, Springfield Police Chief Jeffrey Burnham found himself out of his element. The line of duty had led him to an assignment that fell squarely outside his law enforcement training: hanging sheet rock.

“I’m not very good at it,” Burnham admitted, “but people who are good at it fixed my mistakes.”

Burnham was helping rehab an apartment so that a family on the cusp of eviction could move in. The assignment came from a new group of local social service agencies and law enforcement officials that meet weekly at the Springfield Police Department.

We don’t fix the problems … but we try to lower the potential badness of what’s going on.

Springfield Police Chief Jeffrey Burnham

The assembled organizations, which include housing agencies, addiction treatment organizations and poli