'Police and courts' don't cut it for mentally ill: advocate
Health minister acknowledges more work needs to be done helping people before they get into trouble
James Goldie
Northern News Services
Friday, October 16, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Keeping people with mental health issues from committing crimes and ending up in correctional centres will take more than just a new Mental Health Act, according to Health Minister Glen Abernethy.
Lydia Bardak, executive director of the John Howard Society of the NWT, is calling on the Department of Health and Social Services to address the issue of mentally ill inmates by ensuring more supports for people before they ever commit a crime or enter the justice system.
 Health Minister Glen Abernethy says plans in place to help people before trouble arises.
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At a recent Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority's annual general meeting, Abernethy was confronted with questions about what the department is doing to prevent mentally ill people from winding up in jail. While Abernethy pointed to the Mental Health Act currently making its way through the legislature, he told Yellowknifer in a later interview it will take more than the new piece of legislation to create real change.
"This Mental Health Act is going to give us tools, it's going to allow us to provide a greater range of support and services for people who are struggling with mental health but the legislation itself isn't the solution," he said.
Abernethy said the health department needs to rethink the way it provides mental health services.
"I've already directed the department to begin the preliminary work and research to move us forward with the development of a comprehensive mental health strategy early (next year)," he said.
He said that the strategy would primarily target young people but deal with "non-youth" too and would aim to help people before they get into trouble.
"I hate to give it an actual title right now ... because it's going to be the strategy of the next assembly," said Abernethy.
It was Lydia Bardak, executive director of the John Howard Society of the NWT, who raised concern about incarcerated people with mental-health issues at the health authority AGM Sept. 24.
"We rely on the police and the courts to take care of them. And the police and the courts are not the best place to be taking care of people with severe disabilities," she said.
In an e-mail to Yellowknifer, Department of Justice spokesperson Sue Glowach acknowledged there are inmates at all of the territory's five correctional facilities "who have issues or illness and need the services of professional help."
Glowach pointed to a number of ways these inmates are supported by the Department of Justice, including through the services of three staff psychologists supporting inmates across the territory, a contract physician on call 24 hours for North Slave Correctional Centre who can make referrals to psychiatrists and correctional workers who receive Mental Health First Aid training in order to recognize mental illness and provide appropriate help.
"We also use each of our facilities in different ways to meet the needs of inmates as best we can," she said. "When possible, we move inmates around to take advantage of programs."
Glowach also said Wellness Court was established to address offenders of minor crimes who struggle with addiction or mental-health problems. It offers low-risk offenders the opportunity to serve their sentences outside jail and receive counselling.
However, according to Bardak, services need to be provided well before people enter the criminal justice system. She said prevention is key to solving the problem of incarcerated people with mental-health issues.
"Due to the lack of supports people crash and burn and someone gets hurt. So we're going to pay our police and our courts and our correctional facilities to take care of it - after the harm is done. We're not doing what we can to prevent the harm in the first place."
Bardak said that she had been hoping Abernethy would address the issue by announcing a joint task force between the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment as well as the Department of Health and Social Services.
Abernethy did not say whether or not the comprehensive health strategy he is envisioning would include such a task force but said he is optimistic it will lead to more people getting the help they need sooner.
"This strategy is going to help address the issues that I believe Lydia is talking about," he said. "Helping people before they get in trouble. Getting (them) the tools they need to stay out of trouble."
