The Calgary Police Service and The City of Calgary are working with community partners to transform the city’s crisis response system.
In October 2022, The Alex Community Health Centre (The Alex) was selected to deliver the Community Mobile Crisis Response (CMCR) pilot program. The pilot became operational in February 2023 in northeast Calgary in partnership with Calgary Police Service District 4 and in March 2023, the pilot expanded into District 5 to serve more Calgarians.
In this model, emergency calls to Calgary 911 are assessed to determine if they involve mental health or addiction issues and what type of emergency response is required.
Non-emergency mental health and addiction crisis calls are triaged to 211 Calgary, operated by Distress Centre Calgary. The 211 team is trained in crisis de-escalation, safety planning for suicide and self-harm situations, and they evaluate each call carefully and decide which resource will respond. If deemed appropriate, a CMCR team made up of a health care worker and a peer support worker from The Alex will be dispatched through 211 and will provide trauma-informed care to Calgarians in need of support due to mental or emotional distress. During the pilot phase of the program, a plain-clothes CPS officer will attend calls in partnership with the CMCR team.
After the initial crisis call, the CMCR team provides continued case management and follow up support through The Alex, to facilitate and address long-term needs and social service referrals. The goal of this approach is to reduce crisis recurrences through continued connection.
In seeking support, Calgarians can contact 211 directly for non-emergency instances when yourself or others are experiencing mental health and/or addictions crisis, or crisis relating to housing, income or basic needs. For emergencies, contact Calgary 911.
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