Integrated Mobile Police And Crisis Team IMPACT Lauching

(WELLINGTON COUNTY, ON) – Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington Dufferin (CMHA WWD) are pleased to announce an Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team (IMPACT). This new program will allow crisis workers from CMHA to work alongside OPP officers when dealing with calls involving addictions and mental health crisis. CMHA crisis workers will have an office located within the Centre Wellington OPP Operation Centre. Wellington County will be one of the first OPP detachments in the province to have full in-house, police-driven mobile crisis response capabilities. This new venture is possible due to funding from the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integrated Network (WWLHIN).

OPP officers and crisis workers will attend addiction and mental health calls-for-service in the community together. This collaborative response will improve wait times for people in crisis and improve options for care. Our goal is to improve the overall experience for person experiencing a crisis, and their family members. We also expect that there will be system improvements, as Emergency department visits and inpatient stays will decrease with quicker access to community- based crisis services at the time that it is needed.

A proactive approach of supporting individuals with complex needs and providing follow up support and engagement post crisis should also decrease the number of calls that police need to respond to. Officers receive some training in regards to mental health however they are limited in what they can do. This new program will build on the training officers have received and increase the capacity building/training for Wellington County OPP on addictions, mental health and crisis issues. CMHA Crisis workers will also be able to provide compassion fatigue support for front line OPP officers and volunteer emergency service providers to enhance their wellness and coping.

Helen Fishburn, Director of Services with CMHA WWD says, “We are delighted to partner with the Wellington County OPP to offer more support and care options to people in crisis, and their family members at their time of need. This partnership will ensure that people get the right support at the right time, and will prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital. We are also pleased to be able to offer more training for OPP personnel to enhance their understanding of complex mental health and addiction issues, and our workers will also benefit from a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding policing in today’s context.”

Rural residents will also benefit thru improved access to community based crisis response as they program will allow workers to attend to calls at their home.

Wellington County OPP Detachment Commander Scott Lawson says, “We are pleased that this important partnership will provide much needed support for our officers as they deal with increasingly complex Mental Health and Addictions calls-for-service in our community. This collaboration will allow police to respond to crisis situations with trained clinicians to improve our quality of service to those in need”.

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