Winnipeg crisis response pilot to become permanent

A pilot project that pairs people who call 911 amid a mental health crisis with a support worker and a plainclothes police officer will now be permanent. The province is spending $414,000 to expand the Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis (ARCC) program, which started in 2021 in response to rising numbers of mental health calls. After implementing the program, the province says 82% of the responses by ARCC were resolved by their intervention. The money will go toward expanding ARCC’s availability from five days per week to seven.