The City of Victoria says it should not be paying for police officers to do the job of mental-health workers and wants the province to foot the bill.

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During budget workshops Tuesday, councillors passed a motion that asks Judy Darcy, B.C.’s minister of mental health and addictions, to fully fund the Greater Victoria Assertive Community Treatment teams, which are integrated mental-health teams comprised of registered psychiatric nurses, social workers, substance abuse specialists, parole officers and police.

The Victoria Police Department is asking the City of Victoria and Township of Esquimalt for $253,898 to continue a two-year pilot project that assigns two additional officers to the Island Health-run ACT teams. But councillors said before they approve the funding for the 2018 budget, they will ask the province for financial help. While the previous Liberal government turned down a similar request from the city last year, Coun. Ben Isitt said the new NDP government could come back with a different response.

In a statement, the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said it is not uncommon for people with mental-health and substance use issues to come in contact with the criminal justice system and police officers play an important role in building a rapport with people suffering from those challenges. “While not a core requirement of the ACT teams, police participation in the ACT teams provides the officers themselves with the opportunity to work alongside mental-health workers to garner a better understanding of the needs of those living with mental-health and substance issues, and how treatment and intervention result in better outcomes than arrest and incarceration,” the statement said.

The ministry did not give an indication if it would deliver funding, but said “addressing mental-health and substance issues takes an all-hands approach, across all levels of government.”

Some councillors expressed concern that Victoria and Esquimalt are paying the bulk of policing costs for a mental-health team that has clients all over the region.

Of the ACT teams’ 425 clients, 163 live in Victoria, 38 in Esquimalt and 25 have no fixed address. The rest of the clients are scattered throughout the region.

Victoria Police Chief Del Manak said Saanich police will be asking for funding to add one of their officers to the ACT teams.

Saanich Police Chief Bob Downie said the department’s provisional budget has not yet been presented to council so he could not confirm if he’ll be making that request.

“I am supportive of the ACT teams, and both recognize and value their work,” Downie said in an email. Saanich police is committed to regional integration initiatives but that has to be balanced with funding demands for internal operations, Downie said.

Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she supports asking the province to help pay for officers assigned to the ACT teams.

“I think there is an opportunity now with a different government,” Desjardins said. “[The funding] should be broad-based, not just Victoria and Esquimalt, it should be across the region.”

She hopes the province will respond before Esquimalt’s budget talks in February.

Last year, Victoria and Esquimalt agreed to pay $204,000 and $36,000, respectively, to fund the two ACT team officers. Victoria councillors said they would only approve the second year of funding after Victoria police provide a progress report.

Victoria police are working with the University of Victoria’s psychology department, which is trying to assess whether additional officers are having a positive effect on high-needs clients.

Prof. Catherine Costigan said she and another researcher have conducted face-to-face interviews with 25 ACT clients, asking them about interactions with the police.

The researchers will interview ACT team members and expect to release a report in January or February.

kderosa@timescolonist.com