THUNDER BAY – An initiative to pair police officers with trained mental health professionals will get a one-year test run after years of lobbying from the city police service and local politicians.
City officials returning from the Ontario Good Roads Association conference in Toronto earlier this week on Wednesday said they secured a $300,000 commitment from the North West Local Health Integration network to launch a joint mobile crisis response team as a one-year pilot project.
The service would Thunder Bay Police Service officers partnered with Canadian Mental Health Association workers to respond and intervene to emergency mental health calls.
Deputy police chief Sylvie Hauth has previously said the force had experienced a 26 per cent increase in 911 mental health calls over the previous three years.
When an individual is brought to hospital by police under the Mental Health Act, the officers have to remain with the person until there is a transfer of care and they are admitted as a patient. That waiting often takes hours, Coun. Brian McKinnon said.
“That’s an enormous waste of money. This crisis response money, on one hand, it costs the LHIN $300,000 but it’s saving money enormously on the other side,” McKinnon said.
The service allows the officer and mental health professional teams to respond to situations where there are mental health concerns, assess the situation and direct the individuals to the most appropriate service rather than automatically resorting to transporting people to hospital.
Establishing the crisis response service has been a longstanding issue raised by city officials with the province, with police chief J.P. Levesque first publicly calling for the frontline assistance in 2015.
Two years ago municipal leaders raised the issue with former provincial health minister Eric Hoskins at OGRA, where he reportedly expressed surprise there wasn’t already a program.
McKinnon, who is also vice-chair of the Thunder Bay Police Services Board, said Northwestern Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Ontario where the service isn’t permanently funded by the province.
“I sense that the LHIN dug deep,” McKinnon said. “I don’t have any indication there was an extra $300,000 given to our local LHIN.”
McKinnon said training for the officers has begun and the program will have four pairings per day, with the objective of providing 24-hour coverage.
“There’s going to be times in the day where the requirement isn’t as urgent but certainly say, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., that’s going to be the critical times,” McKinnon said. “We know that, they know that. They’ll staff accordingly.”
The Thunder Bay delegation also spoke about providing financial help to introduce Next Generation 911.
Having the capability to receive and monitor emergency messages sent through video, text or other electronic means could cost the city as much as $3 million, McKinnon said.
“This includes fire as well, not just police,” McKinnon said. “There needs to be coordination between the services. EMS is going to be involved as well. It’s really, really complicated. There’s going to be training required, new equipment.”
Discussions were also had with provincial ministers about trying to find relief from the implantation of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, which is projected to cost the city $1.2 million this year.
“We received assurances that in the municipal sector and broader public sector, there are mitigating factors to the implantation of Bill 148,” city manager Norm Gale said. “It’s happening now. We’re working our way through it jointly with the government, other municipalities … and trying to sort it out as we go.”
