Proposed 9-1-1 alternative for mental health crisis calls heads to Ottawa city council

A proposed mental health phone line and 24-hour community-led mobile crisis response has received a thumbs-up from an Ottawa city hall committee and now rises to city council for the final decision.

The response team would become an alternative to police services for mental health and addiction needs.

The report, Safer Alternatives for Mental Health and Substance Use Crises Response, was received by the Community Services Committee on Tuesday, June 27. It included details of the proposed plan, costing the City around $2.5 million per year.

Some mental health experts say that the response is one people in Ottawa have been calling for. The Ottawa Guiding Council for Mental Health and Addictions, the group overseeing the project, noted that it consulted with city stakeholders and residents on the details.

“We spoke to close to 1,200 people (and) the recommendation out of all of these consultations is that we are going to be piloting the new mental health and mental health crisis response and the proposal is that we are looking for a community-based solution,” Dr. Sahada Alolo, co-director of the Ottawa Guiding Council for Mental Health and Addictions told CityNews Ottawa.

The new mental health service would aim to be trauma-informed and culturally appropriate. Dr. Alolo tells CityNews that the council met with a wide range of people, including those without housing and people from BIPOC communities.

“Most people told us that they did not like to call 911 because when they do we know that inappropriate response can result in death, and sometimes harm, and stigma, and people are sometimes revictimized because of that.”

If it goes ahead, the project will begin in a single Ottawa neighbourhood – to be determined based on where the need is greatest – and its proximity to existing mental health services.

Calls for a community-led mental health response have been circulating for several years. In 2020, the Ottawa Police Service noted that it responded to 6,000 calls for service every year involving someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

The proposal still requires final approval from city council, but if approved, it could take nearly a year to launch the phone line and mental health response team and the councillor for one of Ottawa’s downtown wards where the need is greatest, Somerset, said her residents can’t wait that long.

“I actually don’t even have the words to describe how much things have deteriorated in my ward; how many people are suffering,” Councillor Ariel Troster told Tuesday’s Community Services Committee meeting.

Troster asked staff whether the planned launch, in July 2024, could be accelerated. Staff said they would try to get the project off the ground as quickly as possible but cautioned against moving too quickly.

“We can…see if we can accelerate the implementation by a few months,” said Clara Friere, the city’s interim general manager of community and social services. “I would caution, though, that we don’t want to rush because we want this to be sustainable.”

The safer alternative response program proposal rises to Ottawa city council at its meeting on Wednesday, June 28.