The Canadian Mental Health Association in Newfoundland and Labrador hopes a new pilot project, which will send a crisis response team of health professionals to the streets, will help police deal with mental illness in the community.

Geoff Chaulk, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the CMHA, said police have traditionally been the first line of defence in dealing with mental health crises in the community.

"The police have really been our first line responders in situations where there is an emotional or mental health crisis and we've been working with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary for the last few years, training them to better understand mental health crisis," Chaulk told CBC News.

"But that sort of criminalizes the mental health problem. If you have serious illness and the only intervention is offered by the police, it's not ideal."

The year-long project, jointly organized by the CMHA, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the Eastern Health Authority, is expected to be up and running by April 2008 in the St. John's area.

It will see a team of two — a registered nurse and a social worker — dedicated to responding to issues in the community four nights a week. The duo will be available to attend calls with police, as well as hit the streets to address situations that are called in to the CMHA's crisis phone line.

Chaulk said the new project will support mental health issues in the community.

"One of the areas the response team tries to address, or in some cases prevent, is unnecessary hospitalization. So that if there are issues in the person's social environment that are causing difficulties, it could be that those could be rectified while the person stays in the community with some additional support," he said.

Chaulk hopes the project will expand to seven nights a week.