Vancouver city council is set to review recommendations for a $2.8 million grant to Vancouver Coastal Health that Mayor Ken Sim contends will “enhance urgent mental health services.”
The investment, along with a funding allocation from council to hire 100 more police officers, will “bolster Vancouver’s frontline mental health and public safety response,” Sim told a news conference on Sunday.
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He said the bulk of the new funding — $2.5 million — will be used to hire 58 new mental health workers.
Sim explained Vancouver’s annual grant to the health authority will grow to $8 million and future phases may include more “proactive responses to mental health,” such as greater outreach efforts and services to help those recovering from a crisis back into the community.
“It’s incredibly hard to overemphasize the gravity of this announcement and the positive impact that it will have on our community,” Sim said.
“We have an opportunity to set a new standard in North America for a modern and compassionate approach toward addressing the conflict and often interlinked challenges regarding public safety and mental health.”
The recommendations will be presented to council on Feb. 14.
This comes following a motion that was passed on Nov. 22, as part of various recommendations, directing city staff to allocate $8 million toward the hiring of new police officers and up to $8 million toward VCH mental health crisis response services.
Sim’s party, ABC Vancouver, was elected on promises to hire 100 more police officers and 100 more mental health nurses to address public safety concerns.
He said the announcement marks a “groundbreaking” next step in the partnership between the city of Vancouver, the provincial government, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Vancouver Police Department on public safety and mental health.
Premier David Eby agreed.
“Solving the problems that we see on our streets is going to take all levels of government working together, Indigenous leadership working with us, community service providers and law enforcement working together, health workers and so many more,” he told the news conference on Sunday. “That’s the approach that our government is championing.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2023.
