Community-led crisis team for mental health and substance use issues coming to Kamloops
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KAMLOOPS — Kamloops will soon receive a new community-led crisis response team for residents experiencing a mental-health or substance-use crisis.
In a news release issued Friday (July 7) morning, the B.C. government says it and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) will bring a new Peer Assisted Care Team (PACT) to Kamloops. A specific timeline was not provided.
The province says PACTs are mobile community-led crisis teams trained to de-escalate mental-health crisis situations and provide trauma informed and culturally safe supports. PACTs are made up of peers with lived experienced and mental-health professionals who will serve residents aged 13 years and older by meeting them where they are, providing person-centred care and connecting them to follow-up supports.
In 2022, the province committed $10 million for new and existing PACTs. Between January and May 2023, the province says the existing PACTs on Vancouver’s North Shore, New Westminster and Victoria provided supports to people through more than 700 calls, with minimal police interaction.
