Guelph IMPACT Receives Community Innovator Award at Guelph Chamber of Commerce Awards of Excellence Gala

Congratulations to our Guelph IMPACT (Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team) who received the Community Innovator Award last night as part of the Chamber of Guelph Excellence awards. We are so very proud of you all. Your hard work and dedication in partnership with the Guelph Police Service has made a huge difference in the lives of so many people. Congratulations – this is a well deserved honour!

IMPACT (Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team) a partnership between the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington and Guelph Police and Wellington OPP began in 2015 and has seen much success. The partnerships were formed with the goal of creating a system in which members of CMHA WW and police officers could best jointly respond to public needs when there is a mental health aspect, addiction issues, or an individual in crisis. 

The program enables specially trained Mental Health Clinicians to attend mental health-related calls alongside officers. The goal of the program is to ensure that residents have better health outcomes by receiving the most appropriate community-based crisis response at the time of need. The enhanced service improves the experience of residents and their families by providing an immediate and comprehensive crisis response in their home and/or community. Residents benefit from less intrusive service interventions by reducing the need for emergency room and hospital involvement. This type of service has been proven to decrease hospital visits and increase the chances of individuals getting the right help at the right time. 

CMHA WW IMPACT workers assist police in a number of ways including:  

•         Connecting individuals to assess needs and coordinate services 
•         Providing mobile crisis support for officers during calls
•         Consulting with police about calls and making referrals
•         Sharing resources for supporting officers after a traumatic call
•         Preparing trainings and gathering resources
•         Making presentations in the community

In 2018, 3,356 residents in Guelph-Wellington were helped through the IMPACT partnership. There were 1,242 live police calls made where IMPACT attended and 73.91% of the calls did not result in a visit to the hospital.