For immediate release



TORONTO, January 12, 2005 – Three of Ontario’s leading organizations in the mental health and addictions field joined together today to applaud the provincial government’s announcement to invest in community-based services to keep people with mental illness and addictions out of the criminal justice system.



The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs (OFCMHAP) are encouraged by another example of the government’s commitment to support people with mental illness in their communities. The organizations particularly acknowledge the efforts of Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter and Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman for their leadership on this issue.



“Community-based services are fundamental to ensuring that people with mental illness and addictions receive the support they need to recover,” said Gail Czukar, Executive Vice President of Policy and Planning at CAMH. “Diverting individuals from the criminal justice system vastly improves their chances of recovery, if the community supports are in place. This investment will help ensure that can happen.”



The investments will provide police and mental health workers with alternatives to jail, such as supportive housing, crisis support beds and intensive case management, for people with mental illness who have committed a non-violent offense. “For too long, people with mental illness and addictions have landed in the criminal justice system because there was no other alternative,” said David Kelly, Executive Director of the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs. “Today’s announcement gives us hope that alternatives will be in place very soon.”



A study of the London Police Force demonstrated that between 1998 and 2002, the study’s timeframe, the amount of time London police spent responding to calls involving people with mental illness more than doubled, even though the number of people considered violent actually decreased. The capacity to provide support to people with mental illness in that timeframe was seriously compromised by the fact that, until the current government’s first budget in May 2004, there had been no new investment in community mental health services in over a decade.



“Having a mental illness is not a crime and shouldn’t be treated as one,” said Neil McGregor, CMHA, Ontario’s President. “Being able to help more people with mental illness, rather than incarcerate them, will help Ontario take a great step forward toward becoming a just society.”



CAMH, CMHA, Ontario and OFCMHAP will continue to work together and with the government to ensure that people with addiction and mental illness see the full benefit of the investment announced today.





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Liz Scanlon                                    Sylvia Hagopian                    David Kelly



CMHA, Ontario                             CAMH                                       OFCMHAP



(416) 977-5580 ext. 4131         (416) 595-6015                       (416) 490-8900 ext. 22

                                                                                                          (416) 822-0712