city of toronto says the council has received progress reports on a pilot project in which specialists trained in mental health respond to distress calls instead of police officers.
Preliminary information shows that Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) “successfully shifting from a police response to a community-based response to individuals in distress.”
It further said that TCCS has so far been “connecting people in distress with appropriate community-based services, completing follow-ups and supporting clients who require ongoing case management.”
Earlier this spring, the city launched TCCS — a pilot project involving a specialized mobile team trained in crisis support. These teams included community health nurses, crisis counselors, harm reduction specialists and peer workers.
Two pilots served the downtown East and Northeast areas of Toronto and initial data is from March 31 to June 18.
As per the flagship program data, TCCS received a total of 549 calls for the service from 911 and 211. Of the total calls, 80 per cent were sent to mobile teams.
The most common 911-type calls transferred to TCCS were 36 percent for a person in distress, 33 percent for a health check, and 20 percent for distressed or disordered behavior.
Preliminary data also indicated that 80 percent of calls that were transmitted, 61 percent supported clients successfully, 25 percent were unable to trace clients; Nine percent were rejected by the customer and five percent were no longer needed.
Ten percent of calls from all sources were handled over the phone with the person who was given the information or referral.
Officials noted that crisis teams completed 340 post-crisis follow-up actions within a standard 48-hour window.
“In the vast majority of cases, mobile teams did not identify the need to engage other emergency services,” the city news release read. “TCCS requested police presence on 2 percent of all calls attended and ambulance attendance on 3 percent of all calls.”
City officials also noted that more time is needed to effectively assess the pilot project’s performance and impact, with preliminary data “indicating that pilots are succeeding in driving significant results.”
The next two pilots were launched in the west and north-west areas of the city on 11 July and 18 July respectively.
City officials said a full evaluation report on all pilots would be brought to the city council in October 2023.
The city previously said pilots would allow it to test, evaluate and modify non-police-led crisis response before implementing the program on a large scale. Citywide implementation is expected to be the latest by 2025.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said, “We continue to strengthen progress as a city in how we respond to those in mental health crisis.” “In launching the Toronto Community Crisis Service, we are advancing mental health care options and working to help more people.”
— With files from The Canadian Press and Global News ‘Isaac Colon’
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