In the hope of “getting people with mental health issues off the streets,” Quebec announced Monday that there will now be more places reserved for them in certain Montreal shelters. These people will be able to be followed by a psychiatrist and a multidisciplinary team for a period of 8 to 12 weeks.
Ultimately, the goal is for these people to return to housing, stressed the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, during a press briefing at the Le Chaînon organization in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. Thus, when a person is stable after receiving this care, they will be able to benefit from residential support services.
This program called PRISM (Projet de réaffiliation en itinérance et en santé mentale) is already at work in three Montreal shelters, namely the Old Brewery Mission, the Bon Accueil Mission and the Pavillon Patricia Mackenzie. It will now be offered at the Chaînon, where about ten beds will be available for women who suffer from, for example, psychosis, schizophrenia or severe hoarding disorders.
Funds are also planned to extend PRISM to other locations in Montreal that have yet to be identified, said Lambert Drainville, Mr. Carmant’s press attaché.
During the last count, in 2022, more than half of Quebec’s homeless people reported having a mental health problem. “We aim to help people with more complex profiles, who have mental health and addiction issues, to benefit from treatment adapted to their situation in order to give them the greatest possible chance of getting off the streets for good,” said Lionel Carmant.
More rapid housing entries
Monday’s announcement, which comes with a $4.2 million envelope, also provides for an improvement to the program that helps people achieve residential stability. Thus, the Diogène organization and the Mission Bon Accueil will each be able to help 100 people per year benefit from rapid entry into housing.
“In a situation where housing is still a rarity, these two organizations have demonstrated in recent years that they have the capacity to provide these people with housing with the contribution of the private sector,” said Minister Carmant.
The elected official maintained that initiatives like PRISM have the potential to improve the homelessness situation in Montreal, but also “possibly elsewhere in Quebec.” To do this, however, organizations must volunteer, he explained.
According to him, Abitibi-Témiscamingue would be a good region to expand PRISM, because of the community psychiatry that is already practiced there. He says he has also discussed this subject with the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand.
“We are open to all these possibilities. But once again, it is not up to the government to take all of this on its shoulders. Institutions must be ready to get involved and psychiatrists must be ready to do community psychiatry.”