Police Foundations Program Launches Course on Mental Health and Addictions!
Tags: June 2022, Vol. 2, Issue 4
Beginning Fall 2022, the Police Foundations Program (PFP) will now offer Mental Health and Addictions as a mandatory course for all PFP students to take. Under Danielle Pomeroy’s leadership, she has incorporated current issues and trends facing the mental health, addictions, and justice industries.
As law enforcement and justice professionals are increasingly being called upon to respond to individuals who are experiencing a mental health and/or addiction crisis, this course will focus on how mental health and addictions presents itself in individuals, and the ways in which police services, courts and corrections can respond. Students will explore historical and contemporary state intervention and treatment approaches, and legislation and protocols governing police responses to addiction and mental health. Topics will include understanding the science behind addiction and mental illness and the brain-body connection, understanding trauma, harm reduction, and non-mental health disorders such as fetal alcohol syndrome and its over-representation in the criminal justice system.
Focus will also be placed on how to collaborate with various community health agencies, family and personal support systems to deliver culturally responsive and client-centered interventions, particularly in historically marginalized populations such as racialized and Inidengous communities. Students will also learn about PTSD and stress management, self-care, and how to support themselves and others in their personal and professional life. While collaborating with other programs at Humber College through case-based learning, students will get to explore and apply the theories and concepts learned in this course to assess how to provide service and intervention for individuals in crisis.
