Mental health services for homeless people are expanding to Quebec City. The mayor says it's just the start
CBC
Teams of psychiatrists, nurses and social workers will soon be hired in Quebec City to help homeless people with mental health issues access services and, ultimately, housing.
The program, known as PRISM, is being expanded to the provincial capital by the Quebec government after being launched in Montreal a decade ago.
Dr. Olivier Farmer, a psychiatrist at Notre-Dame Hospital in Montreal and the founder of PRISM, said the program fills a gap in what is available to people experiencing homelessness.
People coping with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, aren't always in a position to access the services available, Farmer said in an interview on CBC's Quebec AM.
A team of mental health professionals can serve as the "key to open that lock," so that they can work toward getting an apartment and "get connected to services again," he said.
Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant said the provincial government is putting $1 million toward the Quebec City program.
Under the initiative, people with mental illness will have a place to stay with Maison de Lauberivière, a Quebec City shelter, for eight to 12 weeks.
During that time, they will have access to ongoing care by a psychiatrist and other health professionals.
A total of 24 beds at the shelter will be set aside for the program.
"What we're doing is helping people with mental health problems who are in homelessness have access to services," Carmant said.
"Often they cannot have access because either they cannot go there because of their behaviour or often they don't want to go there because they don't feel accepted."
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand said the new program is a welcome step, but isn't enough to address what has become a major problem in his city, and others across the province.
Marchand called on Premier François Legault to do more to help and said the fight against homelessness should be a priority for the provincial government.
"Now more than ever, given the immense challenges we are facing, we need the premier to rally around this," he said in a speech Thursday, the day after PRISM was announced.
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