Ontario to invest $2.7M for mobile crisis team in Barrie

A mobile crisis response team will launch in Barrie and the Government of Ontario is investing up to $2.7 million into the pilot program.

Officials made the announcement Wednesday at the Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus.

A release from the province stated the program is intended to "make it easier and more convenient for people experiencing homelessness or mental health and addictions crisis to get the support they need."

The pilot, which will be called Community Alternative Response Engagement (CARE), is one of three the government is launching in the province later this year and the teams will consist of community paramedicine and mental health crisis workers.

The province provided a list of support and options for ongoing care:

• On-scene interventions and de-escalation, including support for the Barrie Police Service to dispatch this team and divert calls away from police involvement
• Referrals to connect people to treatment, primary care and community-based supports close to home
• Transportation to treatment facilities or safe locations, such as a treatment withdrawal management facility, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Simcoe County Branch’s in-home mobile withdrawal management services or their safe bed program
• Follow up care within 72 hours of an intervention, including arranging an ambulance if a visit to a hospital emergency department is required

Among officials in attendance included Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Doug Downey, MPP, Barrie – Springwater – Oro-Medonte, and Rich Johnston, Chief, Barrie Police Service.

Minister Tibollo noted the importance of connecting those facing mental health and addiction crises to longer-term care options.

"No one wants to be addicted to a substance, no one is born wanting or wanting to continue," said Tibollo when asked by Barrie 360 how those experiencing homelessness or addiction who are more hesitant to get help or do not want help overall, go forward.

"We have different systems that we have put in place, low barrier access points so that individuals can be spoken to, they can meet with individuals and service providers, and we are providing those opportunities so that people can get the help they need and we are providing them within the community. The announcement today ... the mobile crisis response team ... all of this feeds into a network of supports that gets a person into the system."

He added that building therapeutic alliances is difficult to do.

"But our Roadmap to Wellness talks about those different issues like culturally appropriate services - meeting the person where they are and giving them the support to get them into treatment," Tibollo said.

Jones says the program looks to lower unnecessary visits to emergency departments and police involvement.

With the recent issues involving a homeless encampment at Barrie's Berczy Park, Barrie 360 asked Police Chief Johnston - again - how do you help people in a situation where they may want to stay in an encampment rather than seek other housing options?

"I think we start with the recognition that this is a complex societal issue and I would argue that there is no one community service partner that can solve this," Johnston told Barrie 360.

"The police portion of this is incredibly limited. I recognize that these challenges are not faced just in Barrie but across the province as well. We're looking at ways forward in terms of engaging with individuals in a respectful manner, giving them voice, treating them with dignity, and we have to face the reality that this is a growing community.

"There's a balance somewhere and I think we're going to find a way forward but we're not going to put our head in the sand, we're going to continue to engage with our partners to try to find a way forward."