Situation Table Expansion

Niagara Region has been working with community agencies to expand the Situation Table model across Niagara.

The purpose of the Situation Table is to bring together service providers from a variety of sectors to:

• Identify risk
• Coordinate wraparound supports to community members in need
• Prevent crisis
• Better support vulnerable individuals living in the community

This is a key risk intervention initiative identified within Niagara's Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, 2021-2025.

Situation Table model

In 2018, Port Cares and the Niagara Regional Police Service along with several community agencies launched the first Situation Table in Niagara. The regionwide expansion of the Situation Table model is a key priority in Niagara's Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.

Learn how the Situation Table model works and why it's beneficial.

• About the Situation Table model

  A Situation Table is a regular meeting involving a group of professionals that work together to mitigate risk before an incident of harm or victimization occurs.

  Staff from a variety of disciplines and sectors work together on interventions in situations involving acutely elevated risk. Acutely elevated risk refers to any situation negatively affecting the health or safety of an individual, family, group or place and:

  • There is an extremely high probability of imminent and significant harm to self or others
  • The risk factors contributing to the elevated risk cannot be addressed by a single agency alone
  • If left unattended, such situations will need targeted enforcement and / or other emergency responses

  Participants of the Table develop and implement a plan within 24 to 48 hours.

• How the model works

  Typically, meetings take place once a week to address situations of acutely elevated risk.

  Table members vote on whether the situation meets the threshold for acutely elevated risk. Only after meeting this threshold, can confidential information be shared to create a plan to prevent crisis.

  Following the intervention, ongoing support is provided by the agencies involved, but away from the Table.

• Benefits of the model
  • Improves community safety and well-being
  • Reduces barriers and connects individuals to the services they need
  • Increases awareness and knowledge of risks, trends and systemic issues
  • Risk-driven as opposed to incident-driven
  • Improves collaboration and coordination among service providers
• Agencies involved in a Situation Table

  The agencies involved in a Situation Table include:

  • Addictions
  • Community based organizations
  • Community health centres
  • Developmental sector
  • Education
  • Family and children services
  • Housing and homelessness
  • Income assistance
  • Indigenous and culturally specific services
  • Mental health
  • Police
  • Schools

  Some additional organizations are only involved on an as needed basis, when the case presented is relevant to their services.