Boston hearing examines reinstating syringe redemption program as city expands sharps response and workforce cleanup efforts

Boston City Council’s Committee on Public Health, Homelessness, and Recovery held a hearing April 1 to consider reinstating and sustainably funding the Community Syringe Redemption Program and to review the city’s broader syringe-collection strategy.

The hearing, Docket 0422, drew elected officials, Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) leaders, the Newmarket Business Improvement District (BID), managers of the former redemption program and residents with lived experience. Committee Chair Councilor John Fitzgerald (District 3) said the meeting’s purpose was “to discuss the immediate reinstatement of and sustainable funding for the Community Syringe Redemption Program.”

The matter matters to residents, elected officials and public-health leaders because discarded syringes have appeared across parks, sidewalks and school grounds, prompting public-safety and health concerns and repeated calls to 311. Supporters of CSRP told the committee the program reduced syringe litter and provided low‑threshold work and engagement for people who use drugs; city officials said they have expanded other collection methods while citing cost and concerns about visible congregation around some CSRP sites.

BPHC commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu told the committee that the city remains committed to harm reduction but must balance sustainability and cost. “Distribution of clean needles and other harm reduction supplies, it is a vital component to our strategy to decrease the risk of infectious diseases and essentially save lives,” Ojikutu said. She described a layered approach that currently relies on a mobile sharps team (a rapid response unit that answers 311 calls and conducts proactive sweeps), the AHOPE harm‑reduction program (needle exchange plus testing and referrals), street outreach teams and 10 public syringe-disposal kiosks, plus nearly 50 pharmacy disposal sites created after passage of a city sharp‑disposal ordinance. Ojikutu said BPHC data show the commission distributed 577,990 syringes and collected 778,753 in the second half of 2024.

Ojikutu and other city staff explained why BPHC stopped funding CSRP in July 2024. The commission said two factors drove the decision: the program’s higher per‑year cost compared with existing BPHC operations, and community complaints that CSRP sites visually contributed to outdoor congregation. Ojikutu said the CSRP contract in fiscal 2024 cost approximately $1,226,472. She and staff said that some BPHC services that respond to discarded syringes combined cost less than CSRP did and that ARPA funding that had supported CSRP ended.

BPHC described steps to compensate for CSRP’s absence: adding a second mobile sharps vehicle with one‑time state funding, expanding mobile sharps hours (including early morning proactive routes), intensifying citywide sweeps of parks and streets (priority for schools and playgrounds), piloting a workforce‑development cleanup model in neighborhoods beyond Newmarket (including Nubian Square and Downtown Crossing) and proposing a peer‑collection pilot engaging shelter guests. Ojikutu said the city tracked 311 syringe‑pickup requests closely and that the overall 311 trend rose after the Atkinson Street encampment closure in late 2023, peaked after CSRP closed in July 2024, and then declined as BPHC intensified collection work; she reported average response times of about 40–47 minutes in recent periods.

Sarah Mackin, director of harm reduction services at BPHC, added operational detail and a list of proactive sweep locations frequently serviced by the mobile sharps team and outreach partners. Mackin said the team prioritizes parks, schools and playgrounds every morning and afternoon and named specific sites cited in the hearing, including Clifford Park (multiple daily sweeps), Ramsey Park, Orchard Gardens, Jim Rice Field, Blackstone Park and dozens of neighborhood hotspots (Andrew Square, Nubian Square, Newmarket Triangle, South Bay Hotel area, Mass Ave corridors and multiple alleyways in the South End).

Representatives of the Community Syringe Redemption Program (CSRP) and Newmarket BID described different models. Allie Hunter, a CSRP cofounder, described CSRP as a mobile, low‑threshold van that paid participants 20¢ per used syringe up to $10 a day (about 50 syringes), operated early to catch overnight litter before businesses opened, and emphasized engagement and referrals. Hunter said CSRP had enrolled almost 4,000 people and that “we've collected 1,200,000 syringes since we started the program.” She and participant witnesses said even one day per week of CSRP operations reduced 311 calls locally and provided daily income and a pathway to services for people in active use.

Sue Sullivan of the Newmarket BID described the BID’s back‑to‑work workforce development program that hires people with lived experience to clean streets, collect sharps and receive recovery supports and casework. Sullivan said the program has engaged roughly 165 people since 2017 and that 60 participants moved on to full‑ or part‑time jobs; she said the BID’s current program serves about 40–45 workers and that its operating budget is roughly $850,000 (about $400,000 of that for the workforce component), funded in part by property owners’ BID fees and a mix of grants and contracts.

Councilors pressed staff and presenters on data and funding. Councilor Aaron Murphy asked whether the decline in 311 calls reflected fewer syringes or a change in reporting; Ojikutu said the city was intensifying response and would provide further data analysis. Councilor Ed Flynn noted CSRP’s prior reporting that the program collected “about 5,000,000 needles” between 2020 and June 2024 (a figure Flynn said earlier in the hearing) and urged the city to consider absorbing or restoring the program given its reported impact. BPHC confirmed the FY24 CSRP contract cost of roughly $1.2 million and said the city could assemble about $300,000 in additional funding to expand targeted initiatives, but that restoring a multi‑site CSRP at prior scale would require substantially more recurring funds.

Boston Medical Center leaders testified in writing and orally. Dr. Gloria Ruiz (Project TRUST, BMC) urged expanded citywide harm‑reduction access and said medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are a priority; Bill Gibbons, BMC’s chief of public safety, said the redemption van created “significant congregation” near the hospital and stressed that any program design must balance harm reduction with neighborhood safety and traffic/pedestrian impacts.

Public testimony included residents and program participants. Participants who worked with Newmarket’s program described it as a pathway to steady work and recovery; community activists and advocacy groups urged reinstating CSRP or an equivalent low‑threshold, community‑run model decoupled from law enforcement. The Coordinated Response Team (CRT) and BPHC reported that of people engaged by CRT, roughly 41% were connected to inpatient treatment in a recent month, and officials described daily situation‑table coordination among police, public health and outreach teams.

No formal vote or motion was taken at the hearing. Councilors requested additional budget and program cost detail, asked for a briefing on any planned pilot with the Downtown Boston Alliance, and sought specifics about the proposed peer‑collection work with shelter guests. Committee Chair Fitzgerald said the committee would incorporate the hearing’s testimony into budget and policy discussions.

What’s next: city staff offered to provide more detailed budget breakdowns for the FY24 CSRP contract and for the proposed $300,000 in near‑term enhancements; councilors signaled interest in including a funding request in the upcoming budget cycle and in receiving follow‑up briefings on proposed downtown and Nubian Square pilots. Public commenters and several councilors asked the administration to consider restoring a CSRP‑style, low‑barrier program that prioritizes participant safety and community cleanup while minimizing unintended congregation effects.