It was back on July 11 that I first sat down with Const. Joel Imbeau at the Minden OPP station.
One of his boss’, Sgt. Paul McDonald, had reached out earlier in the year to tell me that Imbeau had been appointed the mental health and addiction liaison officer – working hand-in-hand with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) on the mobile crisis response team.
Full disclosure. Even though Imbeau had been doing the job along with CMHA HKPR since February, I hadn’t heard of it.
I would go on to learn that CMHA HKPR and OPP had been collaborating on the mental health program since 2021. However, there had been staffing challenges. McDonald said they simply didn’t have the resources at Minden HQ to appoint someone permanent, full-time to the job. Instead, officers were assigned piecemeal. For example, if they were on light duties, they might be slotted into the role for a few months. But then they would go back to regular duty. The initiative didn’t have an opportunity to fully take root.
That is not to say it was not helping people. Far from it. Predecessors of Imbeau and the current mental health worker with CMHA HKPR did some valiant work. But the lack of a fully committed officer at OPP was an impediment.
Until now. Since Imbeau has been appointed, OPP and CMHA HKPR are seeing the type of continuity needed to bring the program nearer to its full potential.
Simply put, when police get called to an incident and it is suspected mental health may be playing a role, Imbeau and the CMHA HKPR mental health worker go in live time. Or, if they are not rostered on, they follow-up.
The cop shows up at the door to make sure it’s safe. Then he introduces the mental health worker, saying that person can likely do more than he can at this stage.
They seek consent, and if given, are able to work with these people to try to better their physical health, mental health, or both, in hopes police do not have to be called again, and the person does not end up in the ER time and time again.
Ultimately, it is about ensuring people get the physical and mental health support they need.
So far, the statistics are pointing to the program working.
Today – in part one of a series – we introduce you to the players and the program. In part two, we talk to some of the community partners who are involved, since the program could not succeed without their assistance. In part three, we speak with a client of the program – putting a face to how it is helping people in our community.
It’s taken four months since that initial chat with Imbeau to get this series researched and written. It’s been a job that has had to be placed on the backburner due to other editorial demands. However, we always felt it was an important story to tell. We are hopeful people throughout Haliburton County will become more familiar with some of the services that are available to them.
