Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

police may reencounter the person in the community after a few days—or even after only
a few hours, once again in need of help. 4
12. The inadequacy of resources for mental health treatment in Ontario, as in many
jurisdictions across Canada and internationally, stems in part from the deinstitutionalization
of mental health treatment over the last six decades. Sixty years ago,
people with mental illness were “warehoused in asylums, with no voice to express their
own thoughts and feelings. No safe space.” 5 A landmark in the deinstitutionalization
process in Canada was the Canadian Mental Health Association’s 1963 policy, “More for
the Mind,” which advocated de-institutionalized, community-based treatment of mental
illness that enables people to live in the community and exercise their freedoms. 6
Mental health services were subsequently integrated with general health services, and
psychiatric services were decentralized. In the 1950s and 1960s, almost 80 percent of
beds in Ontario’s psychiatric hospitals were closed. Within 20 years, a number of
observers began to recognize that, “without the necessary community services in place,
deinstitutionalization was a disaster.” 7 Arguably, society still has not risen to meet the
challenge of providing adequate community mental health supports.
13. The 1988 report, “Building Community Support for People: A Plan for Mental
Health in Ontario,” by the Provincial Community Mental Health Committee, reflected
an important shift towards a community-based approach to mental health services in
the province. 8 It was followed by a series of other provincial reports, programs, and
initiatives. However, it is clear that Ontario’s community-based approach to mental
health treatment is far from comprehensive or adequate. Many express the view that
more beds in psychiatric treatment facilities and better funding for community supports
are needed.
2. Types of mental health services in Toronto
(a) In-patient and out-patient counselling and treatment facilities
14. The provision of mental healthcare services occurs in a variety of settings, both
on an in-patient and out-patient basis. For the most serious crises, Toronto has 16
psychiatric facilities designated under the Mental Health Act “for the observation, care
and treatment of persons suffering from mental disorder.” 9 These facilities provide
some or all of the following services: in-patient care, out-patient care, day care,
4
Provincial Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee, “HSJCC Info Guide: Strategies for Implementing Effective Police-
Emergency Department Protocols in Ontario” (April 2013) at 6, online: HSJCC [HSJCC, “Effective Protocols”].
5
Diana Ballon, “Looking Back: Reflections on Community Mental Health in Ontario” (2014), online: Canadian Mental Health
Association Ontario .
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
The Provincial Community Mental Health Committee, Building Community Support For People: A Plan for Mental Health in
Ontario (Toronto, ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1988), online: Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario
9
MHA, supra note 2, s. 1.
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