Thursday, May 19, 2016
Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Middlesex
MPP seeks assurances on distress services
London New Democrat MPP Peggy Sattler said she has “some concerns” about the upcoming closing of a distress line whose funding is being redirected to services that will be co-ordinated by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
“I’m certainly concerned about the transition, the seamlessness of the transition. There is a long history of the service provided by the (London and District Distress Centre) in the community, so making sure that transfer is seamless is going to be critical,” said Sattler, who raised the issue in the Ontario legislature Tuesday.
“I also have concerns about resources,” the London West MPP said.
The centre, whose 102 volunteers took 20,000 calls last year and 7,000 in the first three months of this year, learned late last week that its funding — about $300,000 a year from the Canadian Mental Health Association Middlesex and the United Way — is being yanked as part of a plan to launch a “one-number access line.”
The CMHA Middlesex funding (about $120,000) provided by the Southwest Local Health Integration Network is being redirected to a service called ConnexOntario, whose paid staff will answer a crisis line and refer people to community supports.
United Way London & Middlesex announced it is also pulling its funding ($160,000), which had traditionally covered the cost of running the volunteer-driven distress line and seniors’ helpline, and redirecting it to CMHA Middlesex.
As a result, the distress centre is expected to close at year’s end.
In an earlier interview, CMHA Middlesex executive director Steven Harrison said the changes would not cost any more money.
But Sattler questioned that. “The $120,000 (LHIN funding) was going to a volunteer-led service and now it’s going to a service provided by paid staff,” she said, referring to ConnexOntario. “Will you get the same level of service?”
While she listed several concerns, Sattler said that’s her biggest one. “My No. 1 concern is making sure whoever manages the line, it will be answered by a live person and the services callers are being referred to are available in the community.”
Earlier, in the legislature, Sattler pressed the Liberals over backlogs in mental-health care.
“Telephone crisis support provides a key entry point into a mental health system that is already stretched to the limit. Too many Londoners in crisis have been turned away from ER or forced to wait days to access emergency mental health services,” she said.
“What will (London MPP and Deputy Premier Deb Matthews) do to ensure the community mental health services Londoners need are in place after they call the crisis line?”
Matthews said mental-health services are a “priority for our government,” and pointed to funding for London’s Mental Health & Addictions Crisis Centre at 648 Huron St., which opened as a 24-7 service in January.
“I think we’re all on the same page,” Matthews said, acknowledging the centre is often filled to capacity.
But Sattler said in an interview it’s time to do more.
“That centre is not the solution to London’s mental-health crisis. There is much more that needs to be done to ensure the availability of community based services,” she said, mentioning funding for hospitals to hire more staff and community care.
Media Contact:
Jennifer O'Brien
The London Free Press
jlobrien@postmedia.ca
|