Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST)
The South Simcoe Police Service in partnership with York Support Services Network (YSSN) and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) – Barrie provide mobile Crisis Outreach.
The police service’s Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST) was launched in Bradford and Innisfil in 2017. COAST attends live crisis situations and provides support to people in crisis and their families. The team also conducts follow-ups with people in crisis and provides further needed resources in hopes of preventing people from going into crisis. The program partners a mental health professional and a specially trained police officer in plain clothes who respond in an unmarked vehicle to situations involving individuals experiencing a mental health episode. The goal of this specialized team is to provide pre-crisis support and to facilitate referrals to appropriate community service providers and divert cases from hospital emergency departments to other care providers.
COAST responds to all calls that involve:
* mental health situations
* suicide-related incidents
* suspected overdoses
* occurrences involving persons experiencing adverse symptoms related to neurodevelopmental considerations (like autism)
* persons experiencing negative symptoms from dementia
* other pre and post crisis situations
