The City of Toronto says council has received a progress report on a pilot project in which specialists trained in mental health respond to crisis calls instead of police officers.
Preliminary information suggests that the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) has been “successfully diverting persons in crisis calls from a police response to a community-based response.”
It further said the TCCS has so far been “connecting those in crisis to appropriate community-based services, completing follow-ups and supporting clients who need ongoing case management.”
Earlier this spring, the city launched TCCS — a pilot project that included specialized mobile teams trained in crisis support. These teams were made up of community health nurses, crisis counsellors, harm reduction specialists and peer workers.
Two pilots serviced Toronto’s downtown east and the northeast areas and the early data is from March 31 to June 18.
According to key program data, TCCS received a total of 549 calls for service from 911 and 211. Of the total calls, 80 per cent were dispatched to the mobile teams.
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The most common 911-type calls that were transferred to TCCS were 36 per cent for a person in crisis, 33 per cent for a wellbeing check, and 20 per cent for distressed or disorderly behaviour.
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The early data also indicated that of the 80 per cent of calls that were dispatched, 61 per cent supported clients successfully, 25 per cent were unable to locate the client; nine per cent were declined by the client and five per cent were no longer needed.
Ten per cent of calls from all sources were handled on the phone with the person being given information or referrals.
Crisis teams then completed 340 post-crisis follow-ups within the standard 48-hour window, officials noted.
“In the vast majority of cases, the mobile teams did not identify a need to involve other emergency services,” the city’s news release read. “The TCCS made requests for police attendance on 2 per cent of all calls attended and requested ambulance attendance on 3 per cent of all calls attended.”
City officials also noted that while more time is needed to effectively assess the pilot project’s performance and impact, the preliminary data “demonstrates that the pilots are succeeding in advancing key outcomes.”
The next two pilots launched in the downtown west and northwest regions of the city, on July 11 and July 18, respectively.
A full evaluation report on all pilots will be brought to city council in October 2023, city officials said.
The city previously said the pilots will allow it to test, evaluate and revise a non-police-led crisis response before implementing the program on a larger scale. Citywide implementation is expected by 2025 at the latest.
“We are continuing as a City to make progress strengthening how we respond to those in mental health crisis,” Toronto mayor John Tory said. “In introducing the Toronto Community Crisis Service, we are advancing mental health care options and working to help more people.”
— with files from The Canadian Press & Global News’ Isaac Callan
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