Winnipeg, MB – Today, the City of Winnipeg (City), Winnipeg Police Service (WPS), and Shared Health’s Crisis Response Centre announced a new pilot project that will offer support to those experiencing mental health crises in Winnipeg. The program, called Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis (ARCC) will launch in December.
The ARCC program will establish a co-response model to address 911 calls that require additional supports for people experiencing a mental health crisis. ARCC teams will be comprised of an Officer in plain clothes and a specialized mental health clinician who will be a dispatchable resource to assist WPS general patrol when needed.
The ARCC pilot project emerged as a result of the initial work completed through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative which saw representatives from the City of Winnipeg, Winnipeg Police Service, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, Shared Health, and other community agencies work collaboratively to find ways to better align the supports offered with the needs of residents calling 911.
“The work initiated through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership program has delivered results,” said Mayor Brian Bowman. “A key element to our success has been strong collaboration across community agencies, levels of government, and health sectors. Together with EPIC-9, this is the second pilot project introduced that is driving positive change in how we respond to residents calling 911 for help. Changes introduced through these pilot projects not only optimize the allocation and dispatch of critically important emergency response resources, but also have the potential to improve the overall health and wellbeing of our residents.”
In 2020, WPS conducted 18,991 wellbeing checks, making this the top resident generated dispatch event for the first time ever.
“While the public demand for civilian crisis workers to respond to these calls is increasing, the reality is that police will always need to play a role in these calls for service as these situations can be violent and unpredictable, and usually occur with limited information, but we also know we can do it differently,” said WPS Chief, Danny Smyth. “Almost half of dispatched calls for service have a medium or high safety risk associated to them, and it is only after our officers respond and confirm a situation is safe, that alternative supports can engage and address the psychological and social needs of persons in mental health crisis.”
“WPS recognizes citizens’ health and safety includes a variety of needs, and the importance of working with partner agencies in government and the community who provide a wide range of supports,” said Chris Puhach, Inspector, Winnipeg Police Service.
Mental health is a relevant and unpredictable factor in a wide variety of WPS calls for service. In 2020, members of the WPS made 2,102 trips to a health care facility with persons in crisis and spent approximately 3,533 hours, or the equivalent of 147 days, waiting to turn the person over to clinical staff. It is anticipated that the pilot project will improve support for individuals in crisis while freeing up some policing resources in circumstances that can safely involve the ARCC team.
“There is growing evidence of the benefits that result from follow-up mental health contacts and the connection to specialized services and supports that occur when mental health workers are involved in responding to the psychological and social needs of persons in crisis,” said Dr. James Bolton, Medical Director, Shared Health Crisis Response Services. “ARCC will respond in the moment of crisis to provide assessment and intervention in addition to offering follow-up care to those requiring some additional supports in the timeframe following a wellbeing call. This may include support in navigating services, connections to available resources or longer-term support for individuals who are frequently in crisis and require a collaborative, system-wide approach”.
“This partnership builds upon the continuum of care that is offered through the Crisis Response Centre, Crisis Stabilization Unit, Mobile Crisis Unit, Peer Support, Post Crisis Services and our Rapid Access to Additions Medicine programming, said Erika Hunzinger, Acting Director, Shared Health Crisis Response Services.” Through ARCC we can support connections to appropriate follow-up services in a manner that is client-focused and coordinated.”