London sees 50% jump in calls for youth in mental health distress

London police are dealing with an increasing number of mental health related calls involving young people, CBC London has learned. 

Police responded to 238 "mental health occurrences" involving people younger than 18 in 2010. In 2016, that number jumped to 498. 

Chief John Pare said the circumstances of the calls vary. 

"Often it's children that are experiencing a crisis and their family or the individual or someone else has reached out to police to aid with the crisis," he said. 

He said the crisis calls come to police because officers are available to respond around the clock. 

For help, Pare said his officers often rely on input from a crisis response team run by CMHA Middlesex. Police often call the team to assess those in crisis and connect them with the appropriate services. Without their help, too many people in distress end up in hospital emergency rooms, which he said isn't ideal. 

'Not a policing issue'

"For many years we've said that this is a health issue, not a policing issue," he said. "We've always believed that an investment in programs related to mental health and addictions would reduce the cost associated with police having to respond."

But what explains the increase of mental health related calls fielded by police? 

Steve Cordes is the executive director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU), an organization that provides a wide range of services for youth. 

Cordes said he isn't surprised to see an increase in the number of mental-health related calls being fielded by local police. 

Many of the young people he sees are dealing with more pressure than their parents. 

"Opportunities that many of us had when we were young may now be harder to come by," he said. "You might be working more part time jobs before you can put together an income that you can support yourself on. That creates added stress."

He said services that help with intake — like the crisis response team — need to be paired with services for young people after they come into contact with police. 

"I think we're great at front-end services but we probably need more resources for ongoing supports," he said. "So that once we've identified an issue, before it's critical, we can support that person and that family so it doesn't become a critical issue involving the police."

'Youth hub' idea taking shape

One idea that's gaining support is creating a youth wellness hub in London. Essentially it would be one location where youth could access a variety of mental health services. 

The Medical Health and Addiction Crisis Centre at 648 Huron St. near Adelaide Street provides around-the-clock support on a walk-in basis for anyone in crisis, but Cordes said a hub serving youth specifically will fill a crucial gap.

"[Youth] find the system confusing," said. "They find the system disjointed, and they find sometimes the systems that are in place aren't what they consider to be youth friendly."

​Lori Hassall is the director of crisis and short-term interventions at CMHA Middlesex. Like Cordes, she's excited about the prospect of a local hub devoted to helping youth in crisis. 

She said a number of local organizations are working together to create a proposal that if successful, would see London become one of five Ontario communities to get funding to pilot a youth hub. 

"We don't want individuals who have mental health [distress] to get into the legal system. We'd rather give them the support that they need," she said.