Item - 2022.EX29.1

Tracking Status

  • City Council adopted this item on February 2, 2022 with amendments.
  • This item was considered by the Executive Committee on January 26, 2022 and adopted without amendment. It will be considered by City Council on February 2, 2022.

EX29.1 - 2022 Launch of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots and Policing Reform Updates

Decision Type:
ACTION
Status:
Amended
Wards:
All

City Council Decision

City Council on February 2 and 3, 2022, adopted the following:  

 

1. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to build an expansion list of community partners and potential pilot areas through a Request for Expressions of Interest process, and to report back on the budgetary impacts and considerations to City Council.

 

2. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to enter into or amend any agreements with FindHelp Information Services, providing for the pilot funds, on the terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration and in a form acceptable to the City Solicitor.

  

3. City Council direct the City Manager to consult with the Toronto Police Service Board to identify efficiencies in the Toronto Police Service and to develop a long-term and sustainable financial strategy that enables the expansion of the Community Crisis Support Service Pilots Program and to report back to through the City's 2023 Budget process.

 

4. City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to consult with community agencies about the funding they need from the Provincial and Federal Governments to enable the expansion of the Community Crisis Support Service Pilots Program and to report back as soon as possible.

 

5. City Council request the Federal Government to adopt a Mental Health Parity Act to meet the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s target of one dollar spent on mental health services for every dollar spent on physical health, as detailed in the report Advancing the Mental Health Strategy for Canada: A Framework for Action.

 

6. City Council request the Federal Government to provide $300 million annually to address Toronto’s mental health and addictions crises, and scale up evidence-based, community-oriented mental health services.

 

7. City Council request the Federal Government to provide an additional $600 million annually to the City of Toronto to help build 18,000 new supportive housing units over 10 years.

 

8. City Council request the Provincial Government to fulfill its election spending promise of $1.9 billion for new mental health and addition services during their current term and before the election writ is dropped.

 

9. City Council request the Provincial Government to provide the operating funding necessary to enable the City of Toronto to operate 18,000 new supportive housing units over 10 years. 

 

10. City Council direct the City Manager to provide an update on the implementation of the Community Crisis response program directly to the July 19, 2022 meeting of City Council.

City Council Decision Advice and Other Information

City Council considered Items EX29.1 and EX29.2 together. 

Background Information (Committee)

(January 12, 2022) Report from the City Manager on 2022 Launch of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots and Policing Reform Updates
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175060.pdf
Attachment 1- Map of Community Crisis Support Service Pilot Areas
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175061.pdf
Attachment 2 - Summary of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175062.pdf
Attachment 3 - Changes to Policing Decisions - Update Summary
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175063.pdf
Attachment 4 - Toronto Police Services Board Year End 2021 Update on the 81 Recommendations for Police Reform
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175064.pdf

Background Information (City Council)

(February 2, 2022) Supplementary report from the City Manager on 2022 Launch of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots and Reform Updates to Provide Corrected Information (EX29.1a)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-199015.pdf

Communications (Committee)

(January 24, 2022) Submission from Steve Lurie and Jennifer Chambers, Co-Chairs Toronto Police Services Board, Mental Health and Addictions Panel (MHAAP) (EX.Supp)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/comm/communicationfile-144350.pdf
(January 25, 2022) E-mail from Janet Haddock (EX.Supp)
(January 26, 2022) Submission from Miguel Avila-Velarde (EX.New)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/comm/communicationfile-144444.pdf
(January 26, 2022) Submission from Derek Moran (EX.New)

Motions (City Council)

1 - Motion to Amend Item (Additional) moved by Councillor Gord Perks (Carried)

That City Council direct the City Manager to provide an update on the implementation of the Community Crisis response program directly to the July 19, 2022 meeting of City Council.

Vote (Amend Item (Additional)) Feb-02-2022 2:42 PM

Result: Carried Majority Required - EX29.1 - Perks - motion 1
Total members that voted Yes: 21 Members that voted Yes are Paul Ainslie, Brad Bradford, Mike Colle, Gary Crawford, Joe Cressy, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Michael Ford, Mark Grimes, Cynthia Lai, Mike Layton, Nick Mantas, Josh Matlow, Jennifer McKelvie, Frances Nunziata (Chair), James Pasternak, Gord Perks, Jaye Robinson, Michael Thompson, John Tory, Kristyn Wong-Tam
Total members that voted No: 5 Members that voted No are Ana Bailão, Shelley Carroll, Stephen Holyday, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Anthony Perruzza
Total members that were Absent: 0 Members that were absent are

2 - Motion to Amend Item (Additional) moved by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Carried)

That:

 

1. City Council direct the City Manager to consult with the Toronto Police Service Board to identify efficiencies in the Toronto Police Service; and to develop a long-term and sustainable financial strategy that enables the expansion of the Community Crisis Support Service Pilots Program and to report back to through the City's 2023 Budget process.

 

2. City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to consult with community agencies about the funding they need from the Provincial and Federal Governments to enable the expansion of the Community Crisis Support Service Pilots Program and to report back as soon as possible.

 

3. City Council request the Federal Government to adopt a Mental Health Parity Act to meet the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s target of one dollar spent on mental health services for every dollar spent on physical health, as detailed in the report Advancing the Mental Health Strategy for Canada: A Framework for Action.

 

4. City Council request the Federal Government to provide $300 million annually to address Toronto’s mental health and addictions crises, and scale up evidence-based, community-oriented mental health services.

 

5. City Council request the Federal Government to provide an additional $600 million annually to the City of Toronto to help build 18,000 new supportive housing units over 10 years.

 

6. City Council request the Provincial Government fulfill its election spending promise of $1.9 billion for new mental health and addition services during their current term and before the election writ is dropped.

 

7. City Council request the Provincial Government to provide the operating funding necessary to enable the City of Toronto to operate 18,000 new supportive housing units over 10 years.

Vote (Amend Item (Additional)) Feb-02-2022 2:45 PM

Result: Carried Majority Required - EX29.1 - Wong-Tam - motion 2
Total members that voted Yes: 24 Members that voted Yes are Paul Ainslie, Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Shelley Carroll, Mike Colle, Gary Crawford, Joe Cressy, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Stephen Holyday, Cynthia Lai, Mike Layton, Nick Mantas, Josh Matlow, Jennifer McKelvie, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Frances Nunziata (Chair), James Pasternak, Gord Perks, Anthony Perruzza, Jaye Robinson, Michael Thompson, John Tory, Kristyn Wong-Tam
Total members that voted No: 2 Members that voted No are Michael Ford, Mark Grimes
Total members that were Absent: 0 Members that were absent are

Motion to Adopt Item as Amended (Carried)

Vote (Adopt Item as Amended) Feb-02-2022 2:47 PM

Result: Carried Majority Required - EX29.1 - Adopt the Item as amended
Total members that voted Yes: 26 Members that voted Yes are Paul Ainslie, Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Shelley Carroll, Mike Colle, Gary Crawford, Joe Cressy, John Filion, Paula Fletcher, Michael Ford, Mark Grimes, Stephen Holyday, Cynthia Lai, Mike Layton, Nick Mantas, Josh Matlow, Jennifer McKelvie, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Frances Nunziata (Chair), James Pasternak, Gord Perks, Anthony Perruzza, Jaye Robinson, Michael Thompson, John Tory, Kristyn Wong-Tam
Total members that voted No: 0 Members that voted No are
Total members that were Absent: 0 Members that were absent are

Point of Order by Mayor John Tory

Mayor Tory, on a Point of Order, stated that the budget information Councillor Fletcher is asking for is easily available from the Toronto Police because they know their budget better.  Mayor Tory further stated that he supported Councillor Fletcher's concerns about the clock as it if difficult for Members to look at two different devices to keep track of their speaking time and asked that someone look into

Ruling by Speaker Frances Nunziata
Speaker Nunziata accepted the Point of Order and ruled that staff have advised that they do have the answer to Councillor Fletcher's question.


Point of Privilege by Councillor Anthony Perruzza

Councillor Perruzza, on a Point of Privilege, stated that he would like to clarify what he meant by the word 'fuzzy' in his earlier remarks; that he meant we need to give staff the latitude to provide clarity to the program and deliver it, and then we can decide if we like the program or not.

Ruling by Speaker Frances Nunziata
Speaker Nunziata accepted the Point of Privilege and thanked Councillor Perruzza for his comments.

EX29.1 - 2022 Launch of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots and Policing Reform Updates

Decision Type:
ACTION
Status:
Adopted
Wards:
All

Committee Recommendations

The Executive Committee recommends that:  

 

1. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to build an expansion list of community partners and potential pilot areas through a Request for Expressions of Interest process, and to report back on the budgetary impacts and considerations to City Council.

 

2. City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to enter into or amend any agreements with FindHelp Information Services, providing for the pilot funds, on the terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration and in a form acceptable to the City Solicitor.

Origin

(January 12, 2022) Report from the City Manager

Summary

In February 2021, City Council unanimously approved the Community Crisis Support Service to be piloted in four areas of the City. These pilots will test a new community-led approach to mental health crisis calls to 911, including those involving persons in crisis and wellness checks.  

 

The pilots respond to City Council’s direction to staff in June 2020 for changes to policing in Toronto and for the City Manager to develop a non-police led, alternative community safety response model for calls involving Toronto residents in mental health crisis. All of the pilots will be implemented in areas where there is a demonstrated need and calls for people in crisis are the highest. One of the four pilots will be Indigenous-led, to advance the City's commitments to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls for Justice. 

 

The Community Crisis Support Service pilots are also one of SafeTO’s first year priority actions contributing to reducing vulnerability in Toronto through proactive mental health support strategies and community-led crisis support models. The pilots will seek to better support community health, wellness and safety by introducing an alternative model of crisis response that is community-led, person-centred, trauma-informed and focused on harm reduction. The pilots will provide a place-based health response, informed by an understanding of systemic racism and the ongoing impact of colonialism, to deliver consent-based care and ongoing follow-up support to those in crisis.  

 

The service will launch in two phases, with two pilots anticipated to be active in the northeast and downtown east by March 2022 and the northwest and downtown west by June 2022.  A third-party evaluator will be engaged to develop an outcomes and evaluation framework and publish an independent yearly review of the pilots to help guide implementation and on-going decision-making. To date, staff have worked to ensure all elements are in place for a successful launch of the service.

 

Key actions taken include: 

 

- Developing the necessary partnerships to implement the pilots;  

 

- Building call triage and diversion processes for mental health crisis calls with Toronto Police Service and FindHelp Information Services; 

 

- Securing technology and radios required to support mobile crisis team communication and dispatching;

 

- Selecting community anchor partners through four distinct call for proposals processes;  

 

- Retaining third-party evaluators to develop an evaluation framework for the program;  

 

- Developing a public education and service identity strategy;

 

- Coordinating community advisory tables to inform the pilots; 

 

- Building a robust training program for mobile crisis teams informed by best practices in other jurisdictions;

 

- Engaging community anchor partners to better coordinate and plan for implementation of pilots; and

 

- Developing new data collection systems. 
 

This report will provide an update on:  

 

- The status of work related to the Community Crisis Support Service pilots, including community anchor partner selection, evaluation and knowledge mobilization, and pilot implementation;   

 

- Key considerations for pilot expansion and next steps;

 

- A summary of work completed by the City of Toronto, Toronto Police Services Board, and Toronto Police Services on the 36 decisions from CC22.2 and updates on additional non-police interventions requested in EX21.2; and

 

- Update from the Toronto Police Services Board on the status of 81 decisions adopted at its August 18 meeting related to policing reform.

Background Information

(January 12, 2022) Report from the City Manager on 2022 Launch of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots and Policing Reform Updates
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175060.pdf
Attachment 1- Map of Community Crisis Support Service Pilot Areas
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175061.pdf
Attachment 2 - Summary of Community Crisis Support Service Pilots
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175062.pdf
Attachment 3 - Changes to Policing Decisions - Update Summary
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175063.pdf
Attachment 4 - Toronto Police Services Board Year End 2021 Update on the 81 Recommendations for Police Reform
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-175064.pdf

Communications

(January 24, 2022) Submission from Steve Lurie and Jennifer Chambers, Co-Chairs Toronto Police Services Board, Mental Health and Addictions Panel (MHAAP) (EX.Supp)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/comm/communicationfile-144350.pdf
(January 25, 2022) E-mail from Janet Haddock (EX.Supp)
(January 26, 2022) Submission from Miguel Avila-Velarde (EX.New)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2022/ex/comm/communicationfile-144444.pdf
(January 26, 2022) Submission from Derek Moran (EX.New)

Speakers

Rachel Bromberg, International Crisis Response Association
Roberta Taylor, Member Advocacy Committee
Sean Meagher
Daniel Bingham
Steve Lurie, Co-chair, Toronto Police Service Board, Mental Health and Addictions Panel
Jennifer Chambers, Co-Chair, Toronto Police Service Board, Mental Health and Addictions Panel
Miguel Avila-Velarde, Toronto Copwatch
Derek Moran
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam
Councillor Shelley Carroll

Motions

1 - Motion to Adopt Item moved by Mayor John Tory (Carried)
Source: Toronto City Clerk at www.toronto.ca/council