Two new working groups have been established to address crime and mental health issues in Grey Bruce.
They’re referred to as ‘community action tables’ and are part of the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.
That’s a locally constructed, provincially mandated plan meant to address underlying issues that might otherwise end up in emergencies and focuses on creating protective factors that make a person less vulnerable to crime and victimization. It’s supported by an advisory committee representing over 70 local community partners.
There is now a crime prevention action table and a mental health action table. They’re led by community partners who meet and come up with upstream interventions to address concerns in the community by looking at the root causes of complex social problems.
Community safety and Well-Being Plan Coordinator Alexis Cook says a few years ago, as part of the development of the local plan, a community survey was held and with the use of feedback, as well as local data, five priority risk areas were identified.
They are crime prevention, mental health, addictions and substance use, housing and homelessness and poverty and income.
“So now, with the launch of mental health and crime prevention action tables, each of the five priority areas have a dedicated action table that is focused on collaboration, information sharing and performance measurement,” says Cook.
A joint release from Grey and Bruce Counties says, if you have an issue you would like to see addressed as part of this planning framework or are interested in learning more about our action tables, visit https://cswbp.brucecounty.on.ca/contact.
