Community-led crisis response team coming to Prince George

Prince George residents experiencing a mental-health or substance-use crisis will soon have access to a new community-led crisis response team.

According to the province, it will be made up of peers with lived experience and mental-health professionals who will serve people aged 13 and above in the northern capital.

The BC Government, with the support of the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division (CMHA BC), is bringing new Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT) to Prince George, Kamloops and the Comox Valley.

“The community of Prince George would benefit greatly from a PACT. Currently, we have many gaps in the crisis-care continuum negatively impacting our ability to provide the highest quality trauma-informed care at the lowest barrier possible. In the absence of peer-assisted solutions we rely on police intervention, costing resources for the community and often times, the trust of our services users. The Crisis Centre for Northern BC supports the development of a PACT without reservation.” – Riley Skinner, executive director, Crisis Centre for Northern BC.

Last year, the Province committed $10 million for new and existing PACTs. The units also free police time to focus on crime and divert people from hospital emergency rooms and the criminal justice system, while helping them access services in their communities.

Between January and May 2023, the existing PACTs on Vancouver’s North Shore, New Westminster and Victoria provided supports to people through more than 700 calls, with minimal police interaction.

“We are so happy the Province has chosen Prince George as one of the next PACT communities. We are pleased to have this program launch in our community to assist our citizens with increased support when they are experiencing a mental-health crisis, when previously they may not have reached out to anyone. We are looking forward to rolling this out within our community over the coming months.” – Simon Yu, Prince George Mayor.