The Provincial Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee (HSJCC) has released a new report, Police and Mental Health: A Critical Review of Police/Mental Health Collaborations in Ontario. The report offers an examination of issues related to police/mental health collaboration in the province, and highlights successes and challenges of collaboration.
Information contained in the report was obtained through three methods: a document review, a survey of Local HSJCCs and a series of key informant interviews. Three key questions are addressed:
- What legislation and policies impact on police/mental health collaboration?
- What types of police/mental health collaboration initiatives currently exist in Ontario?
- What are the issues related to police/mental health initiatives?
The first part of the report identifies fifteen key issues relating to police/mental health collaboration that were raised during the key informant interviews. Part two provides an overview of the HSJCC police/mental health survey findings. The concluding section provides extensive background information about the justice and mental health systems in Ontario. Innovative solutions that are being applied to enhance police/mental health collaboration in Ontario are profiled throughout.
See “Police and Mental Health: A Critical Review of Police/Mental Health Collaborations in Ontario,” Provincial HSJCC, January 2011, available at www.hsjcc.on.ca.
For more information about the Provincial HSJCC, visit www.hsjcc.on.ca.