Chatham-Kent has developed a Collaborative, Risk-Identified Situation Intervention Strategy, involving an agreement between local service providers to support a coordinated system of risk identification, assessment and customized interventions. Service providers bring situations of acutely elevated risk to a dedicated coordinator who facilitates a discussion between two or three agencies that are in a position to develop an intervention. The Snapshot of Local Voices booklet includes information on other risk intervention strategies like Situation Tables and threat management/awareness services in schools.

Incident Response

Critical and non-critical incident response

This area represents what is traditionally thought of when referring to crime and safety. It includes immediate and reactionary responses that may involve a sense of urgency like police, fire, emergency medical services, a child welfare organization taking a child out of their home, a person being apprehended under the Mental Health Act, or a school principal expelling a student. Many communities invest a significant amount of resources into incident response, and although it is important and necessary, it is reactive, and in some instances, enforcement-dominated. Planning should also be done in this area to better collaborate and share relevant information, such as types of occurrences and victimization, to ensure the most appropriate service provider is responding. Initiatives in this area alone cannot be relied upon to increase community safety and well-being.

Mental Health Crisis Intervention Teams provide an integrated, community-based response to individuals experiencing mental health and/or addictions issues. They aim to reduce the amount of time police officers spend dealing with calls that would be better handled by a trained mental health specialist, and divert individuals experiencing a mental health crisis from emergency rooms and the criminal justice system. Additional information on a local adaptation of these teams, the Community Outreach and Support Team, can be found in the Snapshot of Local Voices booklet.

Refocusing on Collaboration, Information Sharing and Performance Measurement

In order for local plans to be successful in making communities safer and healthier, municipalities, First Nations and their partners need to refocus existing efforts and resources in a more strategic and impactful way to enhance collaboration, information sharing and performance measurement. This can be done by identifying the sectors, agencies and organizations that need to be involved, the information and data required, and outcomes to measure the impacts of the plan. Different forms of collaboration, information sharing and performance measurement will be required in each of the planning areas (i.e., social development, prevention, risk intervention and incident response). Those involved in the plan should be thinking continuously about how their respective organizational strategic planning and budgeting activities could further support strategies in the plan.

Conclusion

Planning should occur in all four areas, however, the majority of investments, time and resources should be spent on developing and/or enhancing social development, prevention and risk intervention strategies to reduce the number of individuals, families and communities that reach the point of requiring an incident response. Developing strategies that are preventative as opposed to reactive will ensure efficiency,