The money will be used by the Calgary Recovery Services Task Force to hire two co-ordinators over three years to help streamline services, including mental-health and substance abuse treatment for Calgary's homeless. There are 900 chronically homeless people in Calgary and of those about 550 have complex health disorders, says Diana Krecsy, head of the Calgary Homeless Foundation. At Thursday's announcement, Associate Minister of Health Brandy Payne faced questions from reporters about the existing level of mental health funding for the Calgary area. Last week, a local judge criticized the province after he was forced to keep an Indigenous teen in jail because a secure treatment bed wasn't available. The provincial government has allocated $15 million in its budget for mental health services.

Source: CBC News June 08, 2017 22:07 UTC