Civilian-led mental health crisis teams expand into Kamloops, Prince George and Comox Valley

A new model for responding to mental health calls in B.C. is expanding into Prince George,Kamloopsand the Comox Valley.

The B.C. government announced Friday that those three communitiesare joining their Peer Assisted Care Teamproject, alongside programs already established in Victoria, the North Shore and New West Minster.

The program, referred to by the acronym PACT, sees a mental health worker and a peer support worker dispatched alongside police to mental health calls in an effort to provide support and counselling.

"When people are in crisis because of mental health challenges, we want them met with care and compassion," said Jennifer Whiteside, minister of Mental Health and Addictions in a written announcement.

The Canadian Mental Health Association will help lead the programs, with local operators for the three new communities to be selected later this year.

The province has committed $10 million to fund 10 teams in B.C. municipalities and two in First Nations communities and says it is in the process of selecting the remaining communities to be involved in the program.

270 calls in first six months for first PACT program

The first PACT response team launched on the North Shore in November 2022.

In the first six months of operation, the team responded to over 270 calls saidSean Daoust, a PACT peer support worker with the Canadian Mental Health Association North and West Vancouver branch.

The program operates by establishing a separate telephone number for people experiencing a mental health crisis to call rather than 911. Then, instead of a police car with sirens being dispatched, a mental health worker and peer support worker are accompanied by law enforcement to provide discreet support for the person or people in need.

"Knowing that if I'm in a crisis situation, I don't need to rush to emergency.I don't need to call 911.That there is another option and that a care team can come de-escalate thesituation, get me through that day and then find what I need going forward," Doust said in an interview with CBC News in May.