1. The Policing Services Division of the Ministry of the Solicitor General (PSD-MSG) will lead the development of an Ontario Police Members Mental Health Collaborative (OPMMHC) as a standing body accountable to the Deputy Solicitor General, to meet quarterly on a continuing basis and to operate under the following initial terms of reference:
    1. OPMMHC will be comprised of qualified volunteer representatives from police service boards, police service executive management, police associations, police supervisors (sworn and civilian), police members with lived experience, police family members with lived experience, police psychologists and other mental health providers with expertise in policing, researchers, peer support groups, and insurance and benefits providers;
    2. OPMMHC will be co-chaired by one representative of police executive management and one police association executive;
    3. OPMMHC will serve in a steering and coordinating role to identify and act to resolve gaps, overlaps and service deficiencies in order to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and universal accessibility of mental health supports to police service members across the province;
    4. OPMMHC will establish and disseminate appropriate benchmarking tools and metrics, establish implementation timelines, report semi-annually on progress of recommendations in this report and from other sources, and execute other initiatives as OPMMHC members may determine;
    5. OPMMHC will be develop an agenda of priority research topics for policing in Ontario, including encouraging the development of a police specific interpretation of the CF-modified Mann model for suicide prevention depicted in Figure 1 of this report, incorporating any additional factors and interconnections addressed within this report.
    6. MSG will provide administrative support and base funding sufficient to sustain the meetings of the OPMMHC;
    7. OPMMHC projects will be otherwise staffed and resourced through in-kind contributions from the participating members;
    8. and, other terms of reference as PSD-MSG and the participating OPMMHC stakeholders may determine.
  1. The OPMMHC, once established, will lead the development of a Communications Sub-committee (OPMMHC-Comms) dedicated to the design and ongoing execution of a broad campaign aimed at normalizing mental health challenges, reducing stigmatizing behaviours and assumptions, achieving healthier identity and work life balance, and building awareness of supports, treatments and recovery outcomes in all police services, police academies, and police-related program units in Ontario Community Colleges and Universities;
    1. OPMMHC-Comms will be staffed on an in-kind, part-time basis by Ontario police services, and supported by PSD-MSG with additional funding on a project-by-project basis, as required;
    2. The normalization campaign will be available for province-wide roll out by December 31 2020.
  1. The OPMMHC, once established, will lead the development of a Knowledge Translation Sub-committee (OPMMHC-Education) dedicated to accessing, interpreting, adapting and disseminating best practice education and training resources for mental health and suicide prevention to all identified end-users (including police members, leadership, families, peer supporters, clinicians and the general public) from available sources, including universities, governmental and non-governmental organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment, the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Heath Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada’s PTSD Secretariat, Veterans Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence, and other police professional organizations and stakeholder groups;
    1. The Knowledge Translation Sub-committee will be well developed and materials will be rolling out province-wide by December 31 2020.  There will also be provisions for measuring application and retention of new knowledge by the end-users, continuous improvement, and updating of materials as needed.
  1. OPMMHC will work with Ontario police services, peer support agencies, insurers and clinical providers to establish clear guidelines for the qualifications and standards necessary to provide clinical care and peer support services to police members.
  1. OPMMHC will produce by January 1 2021 a single, consolidated and living referral source outlining the availability of suitably qualified care providers and treatment options in all regions of the province.
  1. OPMMHC will work with all partners to advance a no-wrong-door policy across the province, with a view to reducing administrative and funding barriers to members in need of immediate access and care.
  1. PSD-MSG will direct all police services in Ontario to develop and implement a comprehensive mental health (MH) and wellness strategy by June 30 2021;
    1. Comprehensive MH strategies will include local normalization initiatives; provisions for ensuring access for their members to suitable evidence based and qualified prevention, self-care, intervention, and postvention supports;
    2. Comprehensive MH strategies will also include training and education initiatives, as informed by OPPMHC-Education, designed to meet the needs of recruits, members, coach officers, supervisors, managers, human resources specialists, peer support providers, mental health professionals, and families;
    3. Comprehensive MH strategy elements may be provided directly by a police service, through partnerships with other police services, and/or in partnership with third party providers, as required;
    4. Comprehensive MH strategies will provide for engagement of family members in learning and discussion sessions and other activities related to police member mental well-being during the recruitment process, at critical transition points (as defined in this report), and periodically throughout policing careers;
    5. Comprehensive MH strategies will include the establishment of specific competencies and performance expectations, related to maintaining and supporting mental wellness and/or responding to mental health issues, for all members in general, and specifically for supervising members, and will be incorporated into promotion, performance management, and recognition systems by December 31 2021.
  1. OPMMHC will assist and guide police services in establishing web-based Members and Families Mental Health Portals, service-specific for larger services and/or general access for all services, to make available information and resources to support open and informed conversations about mental health and well-being.  Portals will be established and accessible to all services by June 30 2021.
  1. OPMMHC will guide the development of best practice guidelines for managing all mental health related A-RTW (A-RTW) decision processes by December 31 2021;
  1. A-RTW processes will include collaboration among management, human resource specialists, members, families, associations, insurers and third party clinical advisors, with clear roles and responsibilities established for each;
  2. A-RTW processes will include specific guidelines for maintaining supportive connections with accommodated members and those who are absent from work, and with their families when permitted.
  1. OPMMHC will guide the development of best practice guidelines for managing all high-risk 'hand-off' support processes by December 31 2021;
    1. Hand-off processes will apply to any situation involving or with the potential to involve Police Service Act charges, criminal charges, removal of use-of-force options, or member identification and negative attention from mainstream or social media;
    2. Hand-off processes will include specific guidelines for maintaining supportive connections with accommodated members who are absent from work, and with their families when permitted.
  1. PSD-MSG will encourage more police services in Ontario to hire mental health professionals to the extent affordable on their own, or in partnership with neighbouring police services.  
  1. The Ontario Association of Chiefs or Police (OACP) will be encouraged by this report to establish a provincial parallel to the CACP's Psychologist Sub-committee to facilitate greater cooperation, capacity, and the development of Ontario-specific best practices.
  1. PSD-MSG will encourage more police services in Ontario to adopt, if they have not already, police mental health partnerships along the lines of COAST, PACT and similar models across Canada, and Project ECHO in the USA, in order to improve relationships and interactions between police and persons with mental health issues in the community, and to further normalize member awareness and knowledge about mental health prevention, treatment and recovery.
  1. The Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC), in partnership with others as required, will seek to establish policy in Ontario that requires all coroners to report and share information on any death by suicide of a first responder, including police, and to initiate a death review committee in all such cases;
    1. The OCC will lead the development of a suitable system for capturing data from all such deaths by suicide and resulting death reviews;
    2. The OCC will lead the design and development of analytic tools, through consultation with OPMMHC and others, to learn from cumulative deaths by suicide with a view to identifying opportunities for continuous improvement in the first responder mental health ecosystem.