Crisis Intervention
COVID-19 and Crisis Intervention
VSLG is committed to keeping our clients, our staff and our communities as safe as possible during this difficult time. Staff continue to work 24 hours a day / 7 days a week as per our normal schedule. This has not changed. Our office locations, however, are currently closed to the public. At present, VSLG staff are continuing to support and provide resources to clients by utilizing telephone, texting, email and video technologies in keeping with World Health Organization policies. On-scene or in-person responses are at the request of our emergency partners only. We recognize that this is a stressful time and will do our best to ensure all individual's needs are met to the best of our ability and within the mandate of our services. We are working closely with our community partners so that we can offer a coordinated response to ensure all community members are provided services.
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General Information about Crisis Intervention and VSLG
Crisis Intervention Services are offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Police, fire and paramedic service providers may contact Victim Services on behalf of the victim via an emergency pager system. Teams of two people (or more when required) will be dispatched on-scene to provide emotional support and practical assistance. On-scene can mean a variety of different locations such as a person’s home, hospital, police department, local restaurant, neighbour’s home or even the side of the road depending on the circumstances. Emotional support and practical assistance can range from listening to someone tell their story or keeping someone company while waiting for family or friends to arrive; to providing transportation to or from the hospital or police station to assistance with child care while parents / guardians are giving a statement. We provide tailored crisis assistance services based on what each person needs that moment in time to help him / her get through his/ her experience or until other supports are activated.
A crime does not have to be committed to activate our crisis intervention services. Referrals for service may include; sudden death, homicide / attempted homicide, suicide, motor vehicle accident, break & enter / home invasion, hate crimes, human trafficking, robbery, physical assault, domestic assault, sexual assault, stalking & harassment, elder abuse, child abuse, fire, disaster and other tragic circumstances. We offer free services to all ages regardless of gender, soci-economic status, race, colour, creed, ancestry, place of origin, political beliefs, religion, marital status, disability, age, or sexual orientation.