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IMPACT – Integrated Mobile Police And Crisis Team
What is IMPACT and how does this Team support our Community?
The Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington and Police work together to provide supportive mental health crisis care to those in need. The Integrated Mobile Police And Crisis Team (IMPACT) is an example of what is possible when community partners work together to support our community. This initiative has transformed the way mental health related calls for service are handled by providing a collaborative, immediate and comprehensive crisis response for individuals and their families.
This team was formed with the aim of creating a system in which CMHA WW members and police officers could jointly respond to mental health, addiction and crisis related calls for service. The goal of IMPACT is to ensure individuals have better health outcomes by receiving the most appropriate community-based crisis response at the time of need. This has resulted in a more comprehensive level of care through less-intrusive service interventions and reducing the need for emergency room and hospital involvement.
IMPACT assists our community in a number of ways:
- Connecting with individuals to assess needs and coordinate services
- Providing mobile crisis support
- Consulting with police about calls
- Sharing resources for supporting officers after a traumatic call
- Preparing training sessions and providing resources for police service members
- Making presentations in the community
Since its launch, IMPACT has been incredibly successful and both CMHA WW and its partners look forward to continuing and expanding this important joint venture as it evolves and grows to best fit the needs of our citizens.
All partners within this initiative are committed to and obligated to ensure all client privacy rights are in compliance with all applicable Ontario Privacy Legislation.
Impact partners include:
- Guelph Police
- Waterloo Regional Police
- Wellington OPP
- University of Guelph Campus Community Police
- University of Waterloo Special Constable Service