An early intervention program initiated by the province that continues to keep people safe in North Cowichan is expanding.
The successful Safe Community Situation Table program in North Cowichan and Duncan uses a collaborative, early-intervention approach to address complex social challenges by delivering faster access to services for people at high risk of harm, victimization or committing crime to survive.
The province has announced that the two communities will be provided with a $30,000 community safety and well-being grant to provide additional training and support for the program.
The program brings together front-line workers from the public-safety, health and social-service sectors to identify, intervene and connect at-risk people with the social services, housing or mental-health and addictions care they need, before they experience a negative or traumatic event.
This proven public-safety model is now active in 36 communities in B.C. and is used in jurisdictions across Canada. Results have shown it lowered the risk in 70 per cent of the interventions held last year.
"Safe Community Situation Tables ensure people remain our focus as we work to keep people safe and communities strong," said Mike Farnworth, minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
"By combining front-line workers' expertise, the tables enhance our capacity to respond to community-safety challenges by swiftly connecting individuals to services to help break the cycle of crime by getting at the root causes."
The North Cowichan/Duncan Table, known as the Cowichan Interagency Response Team, launched in 2021 and includes partner agencies from the health, law enforcement, education, human services and non-profit sectors.
The partners meet on a weekly basis to address issues in their community, such as mental health challenges and addictions, homelessness, poverty, violent repeat offending and survival crime.
Situation tables provide a structured, collaborative approach to managing complex or urgent circumstances by bringing together key groups and using systematic processes to mitigate risk and develop action plans to respond more effectively and efficiently to the needs of each individual.
Furthermore, aggregate data analysis helps policymakers assess gaps and risks in their local communities.
"The expansion of the Cowichan Interagency Response Team demonstrates the effectiveness of early intervention in keeping our communities safe," said Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan.
"By connecting at-risk individuals to essential services like housing, mental health support, and addiction care, we are addressing root causes before they escalate into more serious issues. This collaborative approach is key to building a safer, healthier North Cowichan for everyone."
