Post by Retrovision on Feb 4, 2008 18:10:29 GMT -8
(From The Candian Press:www.canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifB7Z7k3avX4VYZfsuayUgxhRzVQ)
Mental health advocates welcome Vancouver police report on mentally ill
1 hour ago
VANCOUVER - The mental health community is welcoming a Vancouver police report that suggests almost a third of the calls its officers handle involve the mentally ill.
The numbers aren't surprising, says Bev Gutray, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association's B.C. division.
Groups like hers have been sounding the alarm for years about how the mentally ill become ensnared in the justice system, Gutray said Monday.
"What the difference is, it's heard much differently when that kind of report comes from the Vancouver police versus from a mental health agency," she said in an interview.
The report, entitled Lost in Transition, says responding to such calls drains police resources and underscores a breakdown of the mental health system since the giant provincial psychiatric hospital at Riverview was downsized in the 1990s.
Written by a Vancouver police detective using results from a two-week survey last year, it's not the first to stress that police officers have become the first and sometimes only point of contact for some mentally ill people.
Many are homeless, addicted to drugs or alcohol and out of reach of health services.
If they're arrested, there's often no alternative but jail or a temporary hold in a hospital psychiatric ward.
Reacting to the report, B.C. Health Minister George Abbott said the government wants to have a new facility in Vancouver by July to take 100-150 of the worst cases of mental illness in connection with the launch of Vancouver's new community court.
But Gutray said it's not clear whether this will be in addition to the 200-bed facility Vancouver was expected to get when the Riverview provincial psychiatric hospital was scaled back in favour of regional psychiatric hospitals that have so far not been set up.
The Vancouver police report said the problems officers encounter now stem in part from the failure of de-institutionalization policies like closing most of Riverview, a century-old complex that once housed more than 4,000 patients.
But Gutray and Dr. Taylor Alexander, the association's national executive director, said the policy is not to blame, but its implementation.
Across Canada, large hospitals seen as warehousing the mentally ill were shut down on the argument patients could do better living independently or in group homes with plenty of support.
But, said Alexander, that support often didn't materialize.
"You just can't close down these facilities and then hope for the best," he said from Ottawa.
"What has happened of course is a lot of the people just end up on the street, and that problem has not gone away."
Estimates suggest 12,000 people in British Columbia are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, said Gutray, and 70 per cent of them have mental-health issues.
That's at the heart of the problem highlighted in the Vancouver police report, she said.
A new facility is welcome but the key is to lower the odds of those with mental problems or addictions - often both - ending up on the street.
"You've got to have services both at the front door and at the back door of the system," said Gutray.
The B.C. government, in partnership with municipalities such as Vancouver, is creating more supportive housing units in its push to reduce homelessness.
But even the program's supporters concede police will still be dealing regularly with the mentally ill. The question is how?
A 2003 report by the Canadian Mental Health Association recommended a comprehensive strategy that includes special police units to deal with the mentally ill.
Vancouver already has one, called Car 87, where police work with mental-health professionals but it can handle only one call at a time and is not available around the clock.
Gutray said there are plenty of other successful examples, especially in the United States.
Memphis, Tenn., for instance, faced the same appalling statistics as Vancouver, she said.
Instead of building a psychiatric facility, police set up crisis-intervention teams staffed by intensively trained volunteer officers.
Police collaborate closely with mental-health services and have a "no-reject" agreement with hospitals that guarantees patients are seen promptly.
Gutray said the strategy has reduced involvement of the mentally ill in the justice system, increased their access to services and decreased the use of lethal force, jail and involuntary commitments.
B.C.'s next-door neighbour, Alberta, has a highly successful diversion program in Calgary.
Run by the local health region in co-operation with the police and the Crown, it keeps mentally ill adults involved in minor, low-risk offences out of the justice system by providing immediate care.
Three years after its institution in 2001, the program slashed emergency-room visits and hospital admissions, repeat charges and court appearances.
Those who went through the program also demonstrated significant improvement in their mental health symptoms.
Program manager Fran Barnes said the successful trend has continued and, in a deal with the RCMP, it's been expanded to cover Calgary's suburbs.
Similar programs are also being set up in Edmonton, suburban St. Paul, and Lethbridge.
Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
1 hour ago
VANCOUVER - The mental health community is welcoming a Vancouver police report that suggests almost a third of the calls its officers handle involve the mentally ill.
The numbers aren't surprising, says Bev Gutray, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association's B.C. division.
Groups like hers have been sounding the alarm for years about how the mentally ill become ensnared in the justice system, Gutray said Monday.
"What the difference is, it's heard much differently when that kind of report comes from the Vancouver police versus from a mental health agency," she said in an interview.
The report, entitled Lost in Transition, says responding to such calls drains police resources and underscores a breakdown of the mental health system since the giant provincial psychiatric hospital at Riverview was downsized in the 1990s.
Written by a Vancouver police detective using results from a two-week survey last year, it's not the first to stress that police officers have become the first and sometimes only point of contact for some mentally ill people.
Many are homeless, addicted to drugs or alcohol and out of reach of health services.
If they're arrested, there's often no alternative but jail or a temporary hold in a hospital psychiatric ward.
Reacting to the report, B.C. Health Minister George Abbott said the government wants to have a new facility in Vancouver by July to take 100-150 of the worst cases of mental illness in connection with the launch of Vancouver's new community court.
But Gutray said it's not clear whether this will be in addition to the 200-bed facility Vancouver was expected to get when the Riverview provincial psychiatric hospital was scaled back in favour of regional psychiatric hospitals that have so far not been set up.
The Vancouver police report said the problems officers encounter now stem in part from the failure of de-institutionalization policies like closing most of Riverview, a century-old complex that once housed more than 4,000 patients.
But Gutray and Dr. Taylor Alexander, the association's national executive director, said the policy is not to blame, but its implementation.
Across Canada, large hospitals seen as warehousing the mentally ill were shut down on the argument patients could do better living independently or in group homes with plenty of support.
But, said Alexander, that support often didn't materialize.
"You just can't close down these facilities and then hope for the best," he said from Ottawa.
"What has happened of course is a lot of the people just end up on the street, and that problem has not gone away."
Estimates suggest 12,000 people in British Columbia are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, said Gutray, and 70 per cent of them have mental-health issues.
That's at the heart of the problem highlighted in the Vancouver police report, she said.
A new facility is welcome but the key is to lower the odds of those with mental problems or addictions - often both - ending up on the street.
"You've got to have services both at the front door and at the back door of the system," said Gutray.
The B.C. government, in partnership with municipalities such as Vancouver, is creating more supportive housing units in its push to reduce homelessness.
But even the program's supporters concede police will still be dealing regularly with the mentally ill. The question is how?
A 2003 report by the Canadian Mental Health Association recommended a comprehensive strategy that includes special police units to deal with the mentally ill.
Vancouver already has one, called Car 87, where police work with mental-health professionals but it can handle only one call at a time and is not available around the clock.
Gutray said there are plenty of other successful examples, especially in the United States.
Memphis, Tenn., for instance, faced the same appalling statistics as Vancouver, she said.
Instead of building a psychiatric facility, police set up crisis-intervention teams staffed by intensively trained volunteer officers.
Police collaborate closely with mental-health services and have a "no-reject" agreement with hospitals that guarantees patients are seen promptly.
Gutray said the strategy has reduced involvement of the mentally ill in the justice system, increased their access to services and decreased the use of lethal force, jail and involuntary commitments.
B.C.'s next-door neighbour, Alberta, has a highly successful diversion program in Calgary.
Run by the local health region in co-operation with the police and the Crown, it keeps mentally ill adults involved in minor, low-risk offences out of the justice system by providing immediate care.
Three years after its institution in 2001, the program slashed emergency-room visits and hospital admissions, repeat charges and court appearances.
Those who went through the program also demonstrated significant improvement in their mental health symptoms.
Program manager Fran Barnes said the successful trend has continued and, in a deal with the RCMP, it's been expanded to cover Calgary's suburbs.
Similar programs are also being set up in Edmonton, suburban St. Paul, and Lethbridge.
Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
