Toronto to launch crisis response pilot projects without police in downtown east and northeast

Toronto plans to launch pilot projects in two areas of the city that will see mental health experts instead of police respond to calls involving people in crisis.

The new Toronto Community Crisis Service will begin in the downtown east and northeast. The city has partnered with community agencies to offer the service. Mayor John Tory said on Tuesday the introduction of the pilot projects represents "real change."

"In many cases, and this was a shortcoming that we are remedying today, the reason the police went is because there was no one else to go," Tory said.

"And when people were in crisis, somebody had to come to provide them with support and with help and to help their families and their neighbours," he added. "This is by the community, of the community, from the community."

The move comes after a series of highly publicized deaths in the Greater Toronto Area following police encounters with people who were in the midst of mental health crises,, including Ejaz Choudry, D'Andre Campbell and Regis Korchinski-Paquet. 

The service will:

• Feature mobile multidisciplinary teams of trained crisis support specialists, such as community health nurses, crisis counsellors, harm reduction workers and peer workers.
• Initially operate 24 hours a day, six days a week, Sunday to Friday, and move to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Provide case management support, including follow-up support, primary health care, referrals, holistic support and trauma counselling.

The Gerstein Crisis Centre will lead the downtown east pilot starting on March 31, while TAIBU Community Health Centre will lead the northeast pilot on starting April 4. The Canadian Mental Health Association and 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations will lead the northwest and downtown west pilots starting in July.

In a news release on Tuesday, the city said: "The new service, which is person-centred and trauma-informed, focuses on harm reduction. It will be geographically-based and operate in areas of Toronto where there is a demonstrated need and calls for people in crisis are the highest."

Once the pilots are launched, residents can reach the new service by calling 911. 

A process is in place with the Toronto Police Service, Findhelp and 211 Central to triage and dispatch calls as appropriate to the mobile teams and connect callers to follow-up supports. 

Toronto residents experiencing or witnessing an emergency should continue to call 911 for themselves, loved ones, neighbours or others, the city said.

"The pilots will allow the City of Toronto to test, evaluate, and revise a non-police-led crisis response before implementing it at a larger scale," the city said.