'A largely absent resource': Those who call on Vancouver's police-based mental health team hope funding boost will improve service
There’s so much demand for Vancouver’s mental health emergency teams that people can be left waiting days, and sometimes teams never make it to requests for service at all. It’s hoped a funding boost to hire more staff will increase capacity of the service.
According to the Vancouver Police Department, the Car 87 and 88 teams attended around 2,500 calls in 2022, an average of nearly 7 calls per day. Only one team is on shift at a given time for the whole city, covering the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The Car 87 program was first created in 1978, pairing a psychiatric nurse with a plain clothes police officer to attend non-emergency mental health calls. In 2020 a second team was added, known as Car 88.
Wendy Braun is a registered psychiatric nurse and has been involved with Car 87 since 1995. She jokes that a lot of the police officers she works with “weren’t even born” when she started with the program.
Braun said she spends half her day at Vancouver General Hospital doing paperwork and the other half of her day out on the street with a plainclothes officer.
“Usually before we head out on the road we have a list of people who are going to require assessment that we are going to try and locate and assess,” Braun said.
“We’ll see anything from maybe a university student who’s experiencing a first break psychosis, or we can see somebody maybe who is living in a single-room occupancy hotel and the staff are calling us with concerns.”
Time spent on a call can vary greatly, meaning some calls for service are left waiting.
“Sometimes we plan to see someone for 2-3 days in a row but we keep getting diverted to something more urgent,” she said. “Often I have to tell people that there’s just one of us for the whole city at any given time.”
Janice Abbott is the CEO of Atira Women’s Resource Society, a non-profit organization that runs a number of social housing buildings. She said her team has “vast experience” with Car 87.
“Over time and out of frustration we call Car 87 less and less. Our experience is that Car 87 almost never show up,” Abbott said. “To date, it’s been a largely absent resource.”
On Sunday, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim announced a $2.8 million grant will be given to Vancouver Coastal Health from the city. Most of that money will be used to hire 58 more nurses to expand the car program; it's hoped they will be in place by the end of the year.
Abbott said the resources can’t come soon enough.
“I’m disappointed that we’re looking at the end of the year, not the end of the month… but it’s a step in the right direction,” Abbott said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978503.1721990327!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics
Outgoing French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that sabotage and arson that hit key parts of France's high speed rail network on the eve of the Olympics had 'a clear objective: blocking the high speed train network.'
Canadian Olympic Committee CEO says soccer coach Bev Priestman likely aware of spying
Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker says the head coach of the national women's soccer team was likely aware drones were used to spy on an opposing country's practices in France.
'She led it the whole way': 18-year-old B.C. woman leads hikers to safety in Jasper National Park
As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprung into action.
Recent rain, cooler weather limiting spread of wildfires in Jasper National Park
Cool and wet weather is making a difference in Jasper National Park.
Search for missing vulnerable 3-year-old child in Mississauga, Ont. continues
Police say the search for a vulnerable child who went missing in Mississauga, Ont. Thursday evening continues. Three-year-old Zaid, who is described as possibly non-verbal, was last seen at 6:20 p.m. in Mississauga’s Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road. He was not wearing shoes or socks at the time.
opinion 'Deadpool and Wolverine' review: A love letter to a bygone era
'Deadpool and Wolverine' is a showcase for the bromance stylings of its stars, who pull out all the stops to cap Fox's Marvel movies.
Stay inside, filter indoor air amid wildfire smoke, respirologist says
A Calgary respirologist is advising people to regularly check the outdoor air quality and stay inside as smoke from the Jasper wildfires blows into other parts of Alberta and possibly beyond.
Canada to bring home fewest Olympic medals since 2012, according to forecaster
Fewer Canadians are expected to reach the Paris podium than in the previous two Olympic Summer Games, a global data analytics company predicts.
Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond likely has Indigenous DNA: report
The Law Society of British Columbia says a DNA test shows a former judge and Order of Canada recipient accused of falsely claiming to be Cree "most likely" has Indigenous heritage.