Windsor police announced on Friday the launch of a rapid response team aimed at addressing children mental-health emergencies with “compassionate de-escalation.”

The new Youth Crisis Response Team (YCRT) will pair front line officers responding to children mental-health crises with a dedicated full-time youth social worker. Proponents hope the initiative will reduce the number of children in the justice system.

“This is so relevant and so needed,” said Windsor police chief Jason Crowley at police headquarters on Friday. “I can’t really think of anything at the top of my head that is more needed, because what children and youth are faced with half the time is way more than any of us had to deal with when we were young.”

The province is providing a $240,000 grant to hire the social worker

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