• children out of parental control
• young offenders services
• missing and found children
• repatriation services
• counselling services
• potential parental neglect /parental abandonment
• suicide intervention services
• physical and sexual abuse investigations
• assuring children's safety
• information and referral
• children under 12 years in conflict with the criminal code

• accommodations
• food
• transportation
• temporary health coverage
• baby needs
• information and referral

• psychiatric illness
• suicide intervention
• after hours crisis response & screening for Mental Health Clinic Clients and non-clients
• tragic events {emotional trauma}
• substance abuse
• completed suicides

• marital / family
• loss / bereavement
• sexual concerns
• physical assault
• custody related
• relationships
• mediation and conflict resolution
• information and referral

• counselling
• assessment & referral to Detox
• safety concerns

{f} Domestic Violence

• counselling victim or assailant
• assess and apply for Emergency Intervention Orders
• arrange safe shelter for adults and children
• develop safety plans for women / children / men who are unable to go into shelter
• the Agency works closely with Women's Shelters, Domestic Violence Outreach Project, City Police, native groups and a number of other community organizations.

{h} Problem Gambling Help Line

• 1-800-# Toll free line
• single point of entry for those experiencing problems with gambling
• counselling and assessment for relatives, friends, or employers
• assessment, information and referral to Gambling Counsellors and Gambler Anonymous

{i} Assistance to other Agencies and Community Residence

• assistance to the Regina Police Service/ RCMP
• Department of Community Resources and Employment
• Hospitals
• assess elder abuse / inability to provide care for themselves / financial abuse of elderly
• assist Regina Police Service in searching for missing/lost elderly individuals
  
  {j} Miscellaneous Services

• information
• complaints
• advocacy

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

In order to intervene most effectively with an individual, or a family that appears to be in crisis, Crisis Workers must ascertain:

• does a crisis situation exist?
• why is the person asking for help now? Is there some level of risk to client or others?
• what is the urgency of the situation? Is it best to help the caller over the telephone; have the caller attend the office; for a crisis worker to attend to their home, or in the community; or for another community agency to also become involved{ e.g. police}?
• what is the best intervention plan {i.e., what is the best possible way to provide assistance or come to a resolution given the nature of the problem}?
• what tasks need to be carried out by the caller to achieve these goals / action plans{what needs to occur for the individual to return to at least the pre-crisis level of functioning; what other resources in the community might be helpful}?

Presently, crisis intervention services are provided by two teams; five workers per team. Each team works a rotating shift of four days of ten hour shifts followed by four days off. Over a 24 hour period staff work a rotating shift schedule of : 9:30-19:30; 13:00-23:00; 15:00-1:00; 19:30-5:30; 22:00-8:00 week days; with a casual/temp employee providing coverage from 8:00-10:00 am week days. On weekends the shifts change to: 8:00-18:00; 10:00-20:00; 13:00-23:00; 19:30-5:30; and 22:00-8:00. Whenever possible, staff respond as a team of two to urgent crisis calls. There is always maximum coverage during demanding periods which generally seem to occur after normal office hours and on weekends.
The ways in which workers priorize requests for service is always based on urgency of the situation, or the possible level of risk. In this regard, calls with children possibly in danger, for example, would always take priority over all other calls. Similarly, callers who are potentially suicidal would take priority over less urgent calls. Therefore, while workers will always respond to callers in an effort to provide good community service, they will priorize the work load in order to best accommodate the needs of the callers.

In an effort to help community residents resolve personal or family crises, a typical day for a team of Crisis Workers might include: locating lost children; crisis counselling; someone considering suicide; assessing child welfare concerns; conducting a child abuse investigation; counselling or responding to an individual experiencing mental health problems; intervening in a domestic violence situation; assessing an elderly individual ability to care for themselves; providing emergency financial assistance; helping with a family emergency {sudden death, custody, gambling addiction or substance abuse problem}.