Faculty: Deborah Goldfarb

police officer on a bicycle

Boston.com: Lecturer Deb Goldfarb Advocates Against Over-Policing Boston’s Homeless Communities

In a recent interview with Boston.com, Prof. Goldfarb weighed in with other homelessness experts on the government’s recent developments to alleviate homelessness in the city. In addition to sharing how over-policing can harm people experiencing homelessness instead of helping them, she explained that forced treatment and incarceration could worsen the dire circumstances faced by homeless […]

barbed wire fence at prison

DIG: BUSSW Lecturer Deborah Goldfarb Advocates for Recovery-Centered Approach to Help Substance Use Disorder Patients

Instead of sending patients seeking treatment for substance use disorders to health care facilities, Massachusetts patients may be incarcerated. Activists have called for changes in the state law because incarcerated patients often face abusive prison environments that are detrimental to recovery. BUSSW Lecturer Deborah Goldfarb, an expert in social welfare policy, recently testified to divert […]

barbed wire at correctional faciility

WGBH News: Lecturer Deborah Goldfarb Advocates to Divert Funding from Prisons to Healthcare Settings for Substance Use Treatment

At a recent press conference, BUSSW lecturer Deborah Goldfarb and other medical experts testified to change a Massachusetts law that civilly commits people seeking treatment for substance use disorders to prison. While other states allow “qualified petitioners” (i.e. spouses, doctors, or police officers) to commit someone to treatment, Massachusetts is the only state that can […]