'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
NDP calls out Conservatives for effort to squash pharmacare legislation
The federal New Democrats are calling out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party for trying to block the bill that could pave the way for millions of Canadians to access birth control and diabetes coverage.
Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
A subset of Alzheimer's cases may be caused by two copies of a single gene, new research shows
For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer’s disease — in people who inherit two copies of a worrisome gene.
Ontario MPP asked again to leave Ontario legislature over keffiyeh, Speaker loosens ban
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
WATCH Avian flu: Risk to humans grows as outbreaks spread, warns expert
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Trudeau Liberals to unveil new bill Monday aimed at countering foreign interference
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.