Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. has secured a $1.6 million federal grant intended to try to fund comfort dogs in all 59 police departments across the county, expanding a program that already has K9s working in more than 20 towns and cities. The money will also support youth substance-use prevention efforts tied to the county's broader push toward trauma-informed policing.
The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Justice's Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program, according to NBC Boston, which reported on the countywide expansion. The funding will establish a mutual-aid response system that lets municipal comfort dog teams assist neighboring communities during critical incidents, according to The Worcester Guardian, which reported the grant mechanism in detail.
Under the program, individual municipalities can receive $21,000 reimbursable grants from the DA's office to cover comfort dog equipment, transport gear, and deployment training, with no added cost to local budgets, according to a report from Citizen Portal. Northborough's Select Board accepted the grant for its own community resource dog, the outlet reported. Police departments across the county can apply for comfort dog funding or money to supplement existing programs, per NBC Boston's reporting.
A Network Already Taking Shape
The comfort dog network is already active in dozens of communities. At the Shrewsbury Police Department, Officer T.J. Kelley works with K9 Blue, one of the dogs that has gone through weeks of specialized training, according to NBC Boston. In public schools, Officer Casey McCarthy and her comfort dog Denny help students who might otherwise stay quiet around law enforcement.
“He helps children open up and talk to us,” McCarthy said of Denny, per the outlet's report. McCarthy has said children often see her as Denny's handler rather than as a police officer first, a distinction the DA's office credits with breaking down barriers between kids and law enforcement.
In Worcester, Sheruff Barkley is a Bernedoodle comfort K9 handled by Officer Mike Higgins, according to The 016. Higgins has said Sheruff Barkley gets people to talk to each other instead of just staring at one another, the same NBC Boston report noted.
A Program With a Heavy Backstory
The comfort dog initiative carries a heavier backstory in Worcester. Comfort dogs have played an impactful role at crime scenes in the county, including during the search for Karen Solomon, who was wanted in the death of her husband, Worcester Police Officer Kurt Solomon, who was found stabbed to death in his home. Authorities spent six days searching for Karen Solomon before the case was resolved, according to NBC Boston's reporting.
Sheruff Barkley was acquired in part through funding from the DA's Drug Forfeiture Community Reinvestment program, which uses money seized from drug crimes to support local initiatives. Before the federal grant came through, Early's office had already donated $3,000 in July 2025 to the Worcester Police Department's Comfort Dog Program using those forfeiture funds, according to the Office of the Worcester County District Attorney. Since 2007, that reinvestment program has returned more than $2.2 million in seized asset funds to community and law enforcement initiatives across the county, distributed through a competitive application process, the DA's office says.
Trauma, Addiction, and the Case for Comfort Dogs
Early has pointed to trauma statistics to explain the urgency behind the expansion. He has said that 50% of children with unaddressed trauma will eventually be involved in the criminal justice system, and that the same share will go on to develop an addiction, according to NBC Boston. Comfort dogs, he argues, may help steer children away from that path before it starts.
Worcester County's approach mirrors an initiative launched in 2021 by Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, whose office secured its own $1.6 million DOJ grant in December 2024 to expand its network to more than 20 comfort dogs, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office. Plymouth pairs its comfort canines with School Resource Officers and Community Outreach Officers. The office has also publicized its comfort-dog work in a separate release.
Research from Bridgewater State University, conducted in partnership with Massachusetts law enforcement, has found positive correlations between police comfort dogs and community and youth well-being, including for youth exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences, according to the Plymouth County DA's office. Comfort dogs are deployed across Massachusetts departments, including Worcester County's.
What Local Towns Still Have to Work Out
Joining the countywide mutual-aid network isn't as simple as accepting a grant check. In West Boylston, town officials discussed participation in June 2026, according to minutes from the Town of West Boylston Select Board. That planning has included discussion of local policies.
The new federal funding is intended to expand comfort-dog support across Worcester County.
