Northwestern DA unit protecting elders, people with disabilities gets new chief attorney

NORTHAMPTON – Mary Beth Ogulewicz, formerly director of senior services for the town of Amherst, this week joined the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office as Chief of the Elders and Persons with Disabilities Unit.

In that post, Ogulewicz is in charge of criminal investigations and prosecution of cases involving elderly people and people with disabilities; facilitating multi-disciplinary teams working to protect people with disabilities and elders; providing community training and education on issues related to elders and people with disabilities; leading efforts at crime prevention and safety awareness related to these special populations. Ogulewicz also will be assigned part time to the juvenile justice unit, handling cases involving juveniles in Franklin County.

For the past two years in Amherst, Ogulewicz directed services for senior citizens and those with mental health issues as well as people experiencing homelessness. She also facilitated the still-ongoing effort to launch a community responder program as an alternative to police response.

Previously, Ogulewicz was in a private law practice specializing  in mental health and elder law, and for 18 years she worked as assistant district attorney in Hampden County, prosecuting major felonies including homicide, sexual assault and domestic violence cases, among other duties.

She earned a law degree from Western New England University School of Law and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1989. She later earned a master’s degree in social work from Westfield State University and is a licensed clinical social worker.

She said her new post working with people who are vulnerable is a good fit for the skills she has honed as a prosecutor and social worker.

“I come to this position with a lot more awareness and wisdom about trauma and working with victims and witnesses who have disabilities,” she said “I have some skills that I hope will put them more at ease.”

She said she aims to engage in community outreach and education to support older adults and caretakers of elderly and people with disabilities, including how to identify signs of abuse and exploitation and what to do about it, always with an eye to preventing it.

“It’s a great opportunity to engage and convene communities and systems that support older adults to see how we can bring those together more robustly,” she said.

Of her return to working at a district attorney’s office, it feels “like coming back home,” she said. “I’m really excited to be here and serving the community.”