Welcome to NewmarketToday’s You Asked feature. We’ll do our best to get you the answers to your most pressing questions about what’s going on in Newmarket. Email [email protected] and please include the words You Asked in the subject line.
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You Asked:
When local resident Glenn Rodger referred a friend in need to the 24/7 crisis line, 310-COPE, he didn’t expect that nobody would answer on the other end, or that the caller couldn’t leave a message.
“They’re there to help people who are suicidal and if the phone goes dead after the recorded message, and you can’t even leave a message, what is supposed to happen then?” he said.
“If somebody phones there and the line just goes ‘click’, what are they going to do? It’s not a good situation and it’s bothering me. It’s disturbing,” he said.
After hearing about his friend’s inability to get through to 310-COPE, Rodger himself tried calling the next day, and it was repeatedly busy, he said.
“A message says they’re not available, call 911 if it’s an emergency, and the line goes dead. I tried 10 times and couldn’t get through,” said Rodger in exasperation.
The crisis line and the other services provided by York Support Services Network is much needed and the staff do “amazing work”, he acknowledged.
“My only concern is about the person who is suicidal and calls in, and they don’t answer,” said Rodger.
Here’s the answer:
Over the last four years, there has been a 67 per cent increase in demand for community crisis response services, which includes the crisis phone line, community visits, short-term crisis beds, and now text and live chat support, communications supervisor Cathy Sampaio-Lepiane said.
Last year, York Support Services Network crisis workers helped 11,142 people through their mental health crisis, 98 per cent of whom were served using the 310-COPE crisis line for support.
“Due to the unpredictable and personal nature of a mental health crisis, our crisis line call times and volumes vary in length,” said Sampaio-Lepiane. “On average, the time spent to support a person through their crisis is approximately nine minutes."
“As a result, sometimes our lines may be busy when there are multiple people trying to access the service. We encourage callers to call us back in five to 10 minutes, since we recognize that the urgency of a crisis changes over time and may be easier to manage by calling us back instead of leaving us a message or waiting in queue,” she said.
York Support Services Network provided this list of things to do if someone is experiencing a mental health crisis and can’t reach a crisis worker through the phone line:
- Wait five to 10 minutes and then call back
- Text at 1-855-310-COPE (2673) or chat with a worker online at cope.yssn.ca, between the hours of 7 a.m. to midnight
- Call the Krasman Centre’s 24/7 warm line for peer crisis support at 1-888-777-0979
- Go to the walk-in mental health crisis service available at Newmarket Public Library (438 Park Ave.), two Wednesdays a month from 1 to 4 p.m.
York Support Services Network offers community crisis response to York Region and South Simcoe residents who are having a mental health crisis, and their family or friends.
By calling the toll-free number 1-855-310-COPE (2673) or (TTY) 1-866-323-7785, you can speak with a crisis worker anytime you need to, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The crisis worker will provide an immediate telephone/text response in a variety of situations, such as if you are feeling depressed, distressed, lonely, anxious, scared, angry or are worried that you have nowhere to go.
The community crisis response service, through various community partnerships, and as part of the Integrated Child and Youth Mental Health Crisis Response Service, also supports children and adolescents who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
As well, it supports seniors, their families and their caregivers who live and cope with dementia, mental illness and other neurological conditions at home, in long-term care facilities or elsewhere.
The crisis response service includes:
- Telephone, text, live-chat response
- Mobile response
- Mental health support team
- Short-term crisis beds
- Crisis peer support
For more information on York Support Services Network and to find help, visit here.
