'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
B.C. child killer's lawyer walks out of review hearing
The lawyer representing child-killer Allan Schoenborn walked out of his client's annual review hearing Wednesday – abruptly ending proceedings marked by tense exchanges and several outbursts.
Why drivers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will see a gas price spike, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
It's the biggest election in history. Here's why few Indians in Canada will take part
In the Indian general election that gets underway on Friday, almost a billion people are eligible to vote, but a vast majority of the overseas Indian community in Canada won't be casting a ballot.
McDonald's customers left with 'zero value' collection of free hot drink stickers after company ends program
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.
Juror dismissed in Trump hush money trial as prosecutors ask for former president to face contempt
Prosecutors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump asked Thursday for the former president to be held in contempt and fined because of seven social media posts that they said violated a judge's gag order barring him from attacking witnesses.
Toxic forever chemicals in drinking water: Is Canada doing enough?
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.