Item - 2021.EX20.1

City Council on February 2, 3 and 5, 2021, adopted the following:

1.  City Council endorse the 2022 implementation of four community crisis support service pilots as outlined in Attachment 1, Framework to Pilot the Community Crisis Support Service and Attachment 2,  Map of the Proposed Community Crisis Support Service, to the report (January 13, 2021) from the City Manager.  

2.  City Council direct that a guiding principle of the Community Crisis Support Service is that the Service will be the primary first responder to mental health crisis calls received during the pilot program and subsequent to full implementation.

3.  City Council request the Federal and Provincial Governments to provide matching funds for the expansion of the Community Crisis Support Service Pilots.

4.  City Council request that the Province commit to providing permanent and sustainable funding for:

a.  supportive housing for those experiencing mental health or substance use issues; and

b.  mental health services generally, including funding for community mental health service providers to support crisis response and wrap-around services, as well as funding to address the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

5.  City Council request the Province of Ontario to financially support the implementation and expansion of the Community Crisis Support Services Pilot by adequately investing to close the service gaps in mental health services and addiction recovery programs, including detox beds and broad options for affordable and supportive housing.

6.  City Council direct the City Manager to conduct public consultations to refine the proposed community crisis support service pilot for implementation, engaging residents, community organizations, and Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving communities. 

7.  City Council request the City Manager to ensure that the next round of public consultations includes community groups who reflect all of the demographics of the pilot areas.

8.  City Council request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance, and Administration to ensure that all education campaigns and materials related to the Crisis Response Pilots be available in multiple languages.

9.  City Council authorize the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to enter into and administer agreement(s) to provide pilot funds to successful anchor community partners of the Request for Proposals process, other service providers or individuals, subject to the approval of funding through the 2021 Budget process, on the terms and conditions satisfactory to the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration and in a form acceptable to the City Solicitor.

10.  City Council request the Auditor General to prioritize her planned 2021 audit of the Toronto Police Service's 911 operations.

11.  City Council request the Toronto Police Services Board to direct the Chief of Police, to consult with the City, to:

a. support the implementation of four community crisis support service pilots;

b. amend any necessary policies, practices, procedures and other governance to integrate referral to a community crisis support service to the 911 call centre as a dispatch option;

c. train 911 call-taker staff about the pilot and its objectives; and

d. analyze and share on the City's Open Data Portal and report out on: call diversion data, separated into calls diverted to Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams, and the community crisis support service, and available outcomes and geographic distribution of the calls.

12.  City Council direct the City Manager, in consultation with the City Solicitor, the Auditor General, and the Chief of Police, through the Toronto Police Services Board Office, to report to the Executive Committee no later than the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 on the Toronto Police Service’s 911 operations, including:

a.  an overview of the current 911 operations;

b.  the municipal, provincial or federal legal and regulatory framework that applies to the delivery, management, and supervision of 911 operations; and

c.  an analysis of the feasibility of moving 911 operations from the Toronto Police Service to a non-police City service, including any impacts on cost, service delivery and community safety, and informed by any findings made by the Auditor General in the context of her audit(s) of the Toronto Police Service, including options to enhance integration, alignment and coordination of various services that can be dispatched as a means of providing the most appropriate response to a 911 call, including but not limited to calls related to persons in distress.

13.  City Council direct the City Manager to consult with the Toronto Police Service Board and the Toronto Police Chief on the potential reallocation of funds from the Toronto Police Service budget to ensure that the funding of the Community Crisis Support Services Pilot will not result in new financial burden to Toronto residents and to report the outcomes of this consultation through the City’s budget process.

14.  City Council direct the City Manager to continue to engage the Inspector General of Policing and forward updates and communications from the Inspectorate on its work related to police oversight as part of future City reports to Council on policing reform.

15.  City Council request the City Manager to engage in consultations with the Province of Ontario on regulations under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, guided by City Council's decisions including related to police reform, the potential impact on the City, and objectives to:

a. enhance public trust and confidence in police services;

b. strengthen the alignment of municipal and policing strategic and operational objectives; and

c. promote alternatives to the use of police officers where appropriate.

16.  City Council request the City Manager to report back to City Council on the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, and regulations under the Act, once the regulations are developed and publicly available.

17.  City Council direct the City Manager to explore any and all options, including working with community mental health partners, to expedite the implementation of the crisis response pilot and to report to the Executive Committee in the fourth quarter of 2021 on opportunities to scale up the program earlier than 2025 if proven effective.

18.  City Council direct the City Manager to report in the fourth quarter of 2021 on the feasibility of developing other options for non-police interventions with vulnerable people, including scaling up existing community health and social service providers, while prioritizing the implementation of the Community Crisis Support Service Pilot.

19.  City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to immediately begin developing a more extensive and systematic multi-year plan to reassign interventions with vulnerable people from the police to more appropriate local services, such plan to include the following:

a.  a broader range of interventions with vulnerable people in non-violent situations that goes beyond mental health crisis calls and includes interventions with homeless people, youth engaged in non-criminal, non-violent activities, and other safety matters on the scale and scope used in Eugene, Oregon's Crisis Assistance Helping out on the Streets (CAHOOTS) program;

b.  interventions in communities across the City;

c.  strategies for adequate staffing and funding of those services to meet the needs of vulnerable people, both in the interventions and the wraparound supports and services they require; and

d.  a detailed review of the ongoing potential budgetary impact of these changes on the Toronto Police Service budget and the budgets of relevant services;
 

and to report in October 2021 on the development of this plan in conjunction with the Community Crisis Support Service Pilot update report.

20.  City Council request the General Manager, Social Development, Finance and Administration to report back at the end of the year as part of the work that is currently underway on the resources necessary to undertake a feasibility study of establishing an additional Community Crisis Response Team pilot operated by the City of Toronto, with a focus on utilizing an existing City-owned facility such as an Emergency Medical Services station.

21.  City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to report annually on the appropriate levels needed to address the gaps in matching client referrals to services, and not limited to the categories of supportive housing, affordable housing, emergency shelter services, mental health services, and addiction recovery programs, including detox beds.