Shirley Chan says she's made about six emergency calls to 911 over the years, each time requesting Vancouver's specialized Car 87 mental health team when her adult daughter was in crisis. Vancouver service organizations and housing providers say that while the program is great in theory, Car 87 is rarely available. It pairs a plainclothes police officer with a registered nurse or psychiatric nurse to do on-site assessments during mental health crises. "I would say nine times out of 10, when you call for Car 87, you're just told to call 911 instead," she said. She'd like to see urgent mental health matters taken out of the hands of the police whenever possible.

Source: CBC News February 21, 2021 15:56 UTC