Casey Taylor
The Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team (IMPACT) is ready to jump to action for addiction, mental health, and crisis-related 911 calls.
The partnership actually gives CMHA staff space inside police stations, which means counselors are able to attend calls alongside police officers.
“The fact that they’re actually in our building now has built great synergy between the CMHA clinicians and our officers,” said WRPS Supt. John Goodman. “It’s another layer of support for the individual who might be in crisis and it also helps officers understand better some of the mental health issues that are out there.”
According to numbers presented to the Police Services Board Wednesday, the CMHA Waterloo Wellington said IMPACT teams saw 4,588 requests for assistance in 2019/2020 across Waterloo Region, Wellington County, and Guelph. “We also know there are many times our team is not requested by police as we’re not available,” read a CMHA presentation.