Peterborough County OPP will be receiving $60,401.08 from the Ontario government as part of the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) Enhancement Grant.

The announcement was made on Tuesday, October 10 by MPP Dave Smith at the offices of Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR).

There are  39 recipients of the grant across the province.  In total, over $4.5 million total has been allocated by the Province to improve mental health supports in municipal and First Nations police services, as well as OPP police services across the province.

MPP Smith says that the goal of the program is to put a mental health worker on the MCRT team “who has the ability to deescalate the situation at the onset. It will mean we have far better outcomes,” says MPP Smith.

Peterborough County OPP have an existing MCRT program, consisting of a mental health worker from CMHA, Andrew Reynolds, and an MCRT officer from OPP, Roy Maddan. This funding will enhance their current program to better serve the community.

“This MCRT enhancement grant will increase our presence, outreach, and support, to our First Nations communities, and the greater Peterborough County,” says Peterborough County OPP Detachment Commander Inspector Chris Galeazza.

“As part of the grant application, [Peterborough County OPP] is committing one additional uniformed officer to the program,” says Galeazza. This will mean that there will be two MCRT pairs in Peterborough County, compared to only a single team before the grant.

Reynolds has been in the mental health worker role since the program began in Peterborough County, and he shared the number of people the program has helped since starting. “Between April 2017 and March 2023, the program provided support to 705 individuals in Peterborough County, totaling about 3200 contacts or interactions.”

Reynolds and Maddan explained that the MCRT program goes beyond the initial call for service, and that they follow-up with individuals after the initial call is resolved. They will also attempt to provide references to additional supports, if necessary.

CMHA HKPR and Peterborough County OPP are looking forward to increasing their MCRT service. Roy Maddan identified how effective it is when responding to a mental health crisis, saying, “I have been in this Mental Health role for the past two years, and this partnership is leaps and bounds above what the typical two-officer response is.”