B.C. opening 10 involuntary care beds for mentally ill men in custody

The provincial government says it’s opening 10 involuntary treatment beds in a B.C. pretrial facility for men in the criminal justice system struggling with serious mental health and addiction issues.

“By having this facility within the pretrial centre, it gives us the opportunity to intervene to ensure that they are stabilized and supported, and for those who can’t be stabilized, that they get the additional care that they need,” said Premier David Eby, speaking outside the facility in Surrey.

The update comes after the provincial government announced in September last year that it would be opening “secure facilities” to provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for those with severe addictions who are mentally ill.

At the time, advocates compared forced involuntary care to jail, as the province confirmed that some of the beds made available would be at correctional facilities, including the Surrey Pretrial Centre.

Speaking Thursday, Eby said it would “be a mistake to see these beds as being somehow disconnected from what’s happening in the community,” describing the potential patients as “the population that people are anxious about.”

“What this does is it creates a possibility for us to intervene in that cycle of community, criminal offence, jail, community, criminal offence, jail, over and over again. The intervention is potentially to stabilize and get them into support in the community, or, if they can’t be stabilized here, to get them into those more intensive care situations that they need somewhere else.”

B.C.’s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs, and concurrent disorders, Dr. Daniel Vigo, said until now, patients in custody have had to wait in seclusion for weeks for space at a forensic hospital.

“Our patients will now receive the level of psychiatric care they need the moment they need it. This will result in the prevention of harms resulting from weeks of untreated agitation and psychosis. It will result in the implementation of a care plan sustained throughout their time in corrections and integrated with services in the community,” Vigo explained.

Eby says he knows why some in B.C. are critical of involuntary care, acknowledging the province’s history of residential schools, forced treatment, sterilization and more. He says the pretrial facility will not repeat history.

“For the vast majority of people that are struggling with addiction, this has absolutely nothing to do with you,” said Eby.

“It’s for a very small cohort of people who are struggling in a very visible, serious, and public way, where their own safety is compromised as well as the safety of the broader community. These are very targeted beds, and there are very stringent safeguards in terms of how they’re used. For example, for this population here, these are people who are already in custody. All their liberty has already been taken away. They’re in jail. And we’re providing additional care on release. They’re either going to a facility where they get care that they need, or they’re stabilized and connected with care in the community, so that they’re interrupting that cycle of offending.”

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said in a statement that the involuntary care beds are “a significant first step in addressing the complex issues these individuals face while prioritizing the safety of our community.” 

“Yet, this simply isn’t enough. The demand for mental health and addiction services far outweighs available resources, and the complexities of these needs are becoming increasingly pronounced,” she said.

“While this focus on specialized care for those in custody is crucial, we must also acknowledge and address the broader implications for our community, including the stark reality of addiction, mental health and homelessness.”

The province says the unit is open and fully staffed, with one internal patient being assessed for admittance and four others from outside the Surrey Pretrial Centre being assessed as well.

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—With files from Charlie Carey and The Canadian Press