The Toronto police have answered fewer mental health crisis calls since 2021, as a community-based service stepped into the spotlight as the city’s top choice for mental health support.
The Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) is a community-based, non-police-led mental health crisis service launched in 2022 to serve as the city’s fourth emergency option. The service works with four community anchor partners: TAIBU Community Health Centre, 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, Gerstein Crisis Centre and Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Toronto. It provides free and confidential mental health support through a team of mobile crisis workers by calling 211.
Aside from the initial point of response, the service also offers follow-up support, which includes case management of up to 90 days and a 48-hour post-crisis connection.
Nicole Watson, the manager of the city’s policing reform unit, said TCCS has received nearly 19,000 calls from March 2022 to the end of September 2024. She said the service responded to almost 17,000 of those calls.
Watson said TCCS is excited to see how much more impact the service will have following Mayor Olivia Chow’s announcement of citywide expansion on Sept. 26.
“We are seeing a substantial uptake, which should only grow with citywide expansion,” Watson said. “Now that we've been expanded a few months, we're doubling the number of calls from pre-expansion, and we hope that will increase with our public awareness efforts.”
The community-based service has seen apparent success. Data shows Toronto police have answered fewer mental health crisis calls since 2021.
Police saw a steady increase in the number of mental health crisis calls attended from 2014 to 2021. It reached a peak in 2021 with 35,393 answered calls. However, since 2021 and the launch of TCCS in 2022, police have reported a decline in calls attended.
Link to chart: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0k7wg/4/
As of Sept. 30 this year, according to data posted on the police open data portal, police responded to 25,234 mental health calls, surpassing the 23,555 responses for the same period in 2023. It’s not yet clear whether 2024 will mark the first overall increase in calls since 2021, but this year is still on pace to come in below the numbers seen before the launch of the crisis service.
Watson said there is a growing awareness that police are not best placed to manage mental health crisis calls. She said as people become aware of alternative options that provide ongoing support, they may feel more inclined to choose them.
Maurienne Tolentino, a researcher at the Wellesley Institute — an organization that focuses on research relevant to supporting health equity in the Greater Toronto Area — said evidence shows police-led mental health crisis interventions often lead to the use of force.
Tolentino said encounters with marginalized communities are frequently met with discrimination. The researcher said the data from Toronto police shows the community’s appetite for a non-police-led service.
“There have been calls to move away from police-led interventions because of the history of policing within marginalized communities,” Tolentino told Humber Et Cetera.
Susan Davies, executive director at the Gerstein Crisis Centre, said racialized communities feel they are over-policed, which makes people unsafe to call 911 over a mental health crisis.
Davies said there are instances where police are included as part of the crisis response, such as when someone’s safety is at high risk. However, the goal is always to respond without police involvement.
“We’ve done a lot of work with our local (police) divisions doing outreach, making them aware of us, so that they know they can step away, that we can step in,” Davies said. “If it starts with a police response, it doesn’t have to end with this police response.”
The Gerstein Crisis Centre surveyed 207 mental health service users in 2021, a year before TCCS was launched. They found that 85 users reached out to their primary care provider over a mental health service, while only 36 called the police.
“Nobody wants the police coming to their door. They don’t want to see their son taken away by the police for all their neighbours [to see]. The individual in crisis doesn’t want their healthcare to be delivered in that kind of way,” Davies said.
Toronto police did not have anyone available for an interview, but in a statement to Humber Et Cetera, Constable Tyler Rowles, the assistant mental health and addictions coordinator, said they respond to about 30,000 mental health-related events annually and are working with the city and community partners on call diversion initiatives.
City of Toronto 211 ad in a TCC subway. | Humber Et Cetera/Fernando Bossoes
Tolentino said there needs to be more investment in community-based resources such as libraries and food banks, which also contribute to overall community well-being. They said evidence shows mental health crisis interventions do not benefit from having police involved.
Davies said Gerstein Crisis Centre wants more funding for crisis beds as part of the TCCS model. She said that having a space that provides the foundation for people to begin to build on their wellness would help the crisis teams improve the overall quality of the service.
“For many people that we’re working with, having a safe place can be the foundation that allows them to settle their mental health. Unfortunately, the shelters don’t offer that kind of feeling,” Davies said. “I think it’s a piece that we would still love to see happen, and we will be continuing to point out as a potential growth to the model.”
With its 2023 Strengthening the Community Crisis System Grant, TCCS funded CMHA Toronto with two additional 24/7 dedicated crisis beds. The grant also allows extended drop-in hours for the Waan’kiiyendamome, the “We Feel Safe” project, and funds the Parkdale Community Food Bank and the Fred Victor Mission’s mental health project for African, Black and Caribbean communities.
Watson said TCCS requires intergovernmental engagement and investment.
“The City of Toronto has really stepped up in funding and ensuring this service is available,” she said. “But, I think the long-term goal, and we had this in our last report, is to see the province also step into this realm and provide additional support.”
