Reach Out Response Network
{{Short description|Toronto advocacy organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Reach Out Response Network
| formation = 2020
| image = Reach Out Response Network logo.png
| headquarters = Toronto
| leader_title = Co-founders
| leader_name = Asante Haughton,
Rachel Bromberg
| website = https://reachouttoronto.ca/
}}
Reach Out Response Network is a Toronto based organization that advocates for the City of Toronto to increase community-led responses to mental health emergencies.
Organization
Reach Out Response Network is a community-led Toronto-based organization that was founded by Rachel Bromberg and Asante Haughton in 2020.{{Cite news |last=Adler |first=Mike |date=2022-02-17 |title='The way to go forward': Scarborough's Taibu starts responding next month to people in crisis |language=en-CA |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/local-toronto-scarborough/news/2022/02/17/the-way-to-go-forward-scarborough-s-taibu-starts-responding-next-month-to-people-in-crisis.html |access-date=2022-03-28 |issn=0319-0781}}{{Cite news |last=Gillis |first=Wendy |date=2020-08-03 |title=These mental health advocates are working on an alternative to police intervention when someone is in crisis. |language=en-CA |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/08/03/these-mental-health-advocates-are-working-on-an-alternative-to-police-intervention-when-someone-is-in-crisis-they-say-all-of-a-sudden-people-are-interested.html |access-date=2022-03-28 |issn=0319-0781}} It was based on the Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets{{Cite news |last=Kivanç |first=Jake |date=10 Feb 2021 |title=North American Cities Are Replacing Cops With Civilians And It's Working |work=Vice |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/toronto-police-mental-health-civilians-911-calls/}} program run by the Eugene Police Department{{cite journal | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13528165.2020.1930783 | doi=10.1080/13528165.2020.1930783 | title=Stop. Rewind. Replay.: Performance, police training and mental health crisis response | year=2020 | last1=Alvarez | first1=Natalie | journal=Performance Research | volume=25 | issue=8 | pages=69–75 | s2cid=237366294 | url-access=subscription }} with a strong focus on advocacy work.Bromberg, Rachel. "[https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/download/223/550 The pandemic, protests, and social innovation: How can we maintain our progress?.]" Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being 6.3 (2021): 95-96.
Activities
In July 2020, co-founders Haughton and Bromberg published an op-ed in the Toronto Star promoting the organization.{{Cite web |title=Blurring the Blue Line {{!}} University of Toronto Magazine |url=https://magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas/culture-society/blurring-the-blue-line-rachel-bromberg-asante-haughton-community-crisis-support-service/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=University of Toronto Magazine |language=en-US}} This created an influx of volunteers and a connection to Mohamed Shuriye, the City of Toronto's new manager of policing reform.
In 2020, they submitted a 92-page report of recommendations to the City of Toronto.{{Cite news |last=Charlie Buckley |date=7 Sep 2021 |title=Toronto rethinks mental health policing amid calls for reform |work=Canada's National Observer |url=https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/09/07/investigations/toronto-rethinks-mental-health-policing}}
Their 2021 publication Report on International Crisis Response Team Training documented alternatives to police response to mental-health-related emergencies.Disability Injustice: Confronting Criminalization in Canada. (2022). (n.p.): UBC Press. p161 Later in 2021, the group welcomed the City of Toronto's decision to pilot community-led responses to 911 calls about mental health crises.{{Cite web |title=City of Toronto staff recommend 3-year mental health crisis response service pilot program - Toronto {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7588946/toronto-mental-health-response-service-pilot-project/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://reachouttoronto.ca/ Official website]
- 2021 report: [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f29dc87171bd201ef5cf275/t/61001cc7a1cba525808a68ee/1627397322046/RORN+Trainings+Report+-+July+27+Final.pdf Report on International Crisis Response Team Training]
- [https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/07/01/the-alternative-to-calling-the-police-during-a-mental-health-crisis.html 2020 Toronto Star Op-Ed]
Category:Political advocacy groups in Canada