VICTORIA -- Three Vancouver Island cities are receiving provincial grants to create community safety teams to help connect people in need with local services.
Duncan, Nanaimo and Campbell River are each receiving $30,000 grants to create the teams, which will include frontline workers from different fields, such as health, social services and public safety.
Each team will be responsible for identifying vulnerable people who may be at risk of being victims of crime, or who may be likely of committing a crime. The safety teams will then try to these individuals with social services before they reach a breaking point, or "experience a negative or traumatic event."
"We want to see all people, particularly those who are vulnerable and high risk, receive the right support and services they need, when they need them,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in a statement Friday.
"By investing in creating these teams in communities throughout the province, we’re helping front-line workers rapidly connect with people in crisis, while freeing up police to focus on serious and organized criminal activity."
Funding for the teams is coming from the province's Crime Reduction and Gang Outreach program. Ten similar teams are already in use across the province, and the B.C. government is working to create 11 more.
"This is something that we've been asking for in our region for years now, the ability for police, front-line workers, health-care workers, local governments, bylaws and others to understand the problems and work together to solve them," said Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples.
