The Bancroft Area Support Team was set-up in 2016, but since then they haven’t had a lot of critical situations to deal with.
Andra Kauffeldt, the co-chair of the Bancroft Area Support Team, says that’s a good thing. The Support Team was set-up in August 2016 after two years of consultation with public agencies and the community. It was designed by the Community Safety and Well-Being Committee to be put in place to help with crisis defined by acutely elevated risk. Kauffeldt defines acutely elevated risk as a crisis where something critical is happening or in the process of happening that affects the life or well-being of someone.
Since the program started, seven situations have been presented to the Support Team. Kauffeldt says that’s a good thing. “We haven’t had a lot of situations and that speaks volumes to the great work that happens in our community,” she says.
Kauffeldt says that the Support Team is used as a last resort. She added that it’s always up to the person affected whether or not to go forward with what the team is suggesting they do. They always work on a consent-basis. She says that if the table determines that all traditional ways of help have been looked at then they will work with helping the person connect with the service(s) they need. After that, she says, they will meet that person and go over the plan with them. Whether that’s at their home or anywhere else. She said they once met someone at a courthouse.
She says she’s lucky enough to work with a phenomenal group of people that care about the community. She hopes to see more good stories coming thanks to the Support Team. “Their lives were changed by the intervention we provided for them,” she says.
