HELP is one of the new additions to EPS’ CSWB. The Human-centred Engagement and Liaison Partnership (HELP) Unit, developed in equal partnership with Boyle Street Community Services, works collaboratively with our partners to off-ramp people to independence and sustained positive outcomes. The Unit navigates individuals to the appropriate service providers before the community members get entrenched or caught up in one of our complex judicial systems.HELP focuses on those individuals at greatest risk for victimization and offending, and at greatest risk and harm to themselves, others, and the community as a whole.
How does HELP work?
HELP is a client-centred, multi-disciplinary approach with navigation being the critical aspect of the response to the client, who will be directly involved in their individual case and care plan. The ultimate outcome will be reflected in the improvement achieved in each individual’s life situation.
EPS Constables team up with Boyle Street Community Services Navigators who have the knowledge and skill set to support community members to provide referrals, follow-ups, and case management plans. This is typically done by utilizing external community service providers. Essentially, HELP will provide the direct link to external partners, thus providing better outcomes for community members. We expect this will reduce demand on EPS’ frontline officers, thus allowing them to better serve the rest of our cityand respond to crimes and promote community safety.
Although HELP is officially launching today, the unit has been busy throughout 2020. As the teams of Constables and Navigators formed, they began advocating with numerous external agencies for their support in this new initiative. Over 15 partnering organizations are now supporting us and our goal to change livesby promoting well-being.
With partners onboard, HELP teams began their daily proactive measures, which is the most important piece of this unit. “We’re building relationships between social services and the frontline, as well as the frontline and the community members they’re meeting on a daily basis,” said Navigator Manager Doug Cooke. “This takes many shapes, like casual conversations, responding in a time of crisis, supporting them in their journey or handing out snacks and water as a simple, yet powerful first step in initiating the building of trust among our vulnerable community members.” In many cases, HELP teams build a rapport and discover individual’s basic needs that weren’t being met, or barriers that prevented them from getting support.
“We have given community members a monthly bus pass so they could attend appointments because transportation was their major barrier. Other citizens received assistance completing forms to obtain pension, housing, medical care, or even obtaining identification because they didn’t know who could help them or where to go,” explained EPS’ Social Policing Division’s Acting Superintendent Kellie Morgan. “Then we have the truly heartwarming stories. We’ve helped community members gain keys to their own homes; sometimes it’s the first roof over their head in decades. Others are reconnected with family members across the country and our team assists in getting the community member to their family so they can be surrounded by those who love them and can support them.”
Thanks to the partnership with the Katz Group, HELP and additional EPS units like the Heavy Users of Service, and some of our external partners with shared clients, goals, and outcomes, will move into an integrated site in the spring. This co-location will allow agencies to be better aligned in the supports provided to the community members, which hasn’t been possible until now. “We believe having multiple agencies co-locate will allow us to develop better plans for our clients now that we will be able to collaborate directly with one another. We will look to create efficiencies and avoid duplication of supports, fill in gaps, and ultimately change lives for the better,while ensuring exemplary services to the vulnerable population within our city,” A/Supt. Morgan said.
With the full launch of HELP, the unit will expand into their operational/reactive assistance. HELP will take calls from our officers and provide them with support over the phone, have the officer transport the client to our building, or HELP will send a Navigator directly to the client. This is where we will provide the off-ramp solution to our officers instead of the traditional option of “arrest, charge, repeat”. which simply has not solved the underlying basic humanistic needs that has led this person to this moment. We endeavour to break the cycle and be the voice of influence, as we work in partnership and look to resolve the underlying basic humanistic needs that has led this person to this moment.