By Dorina Simeonov

When Ontarians call police for help during a mental health crisis, chances are they’ll end-up with a non-conviction police record as a result. Police contact – whether related to criminal activity, a conviction, or a simple by-law complaint or mental health issue – generates information stored in police files and databases.  This type of information can be disclosed on police record checks or “background checks” commonly used as a pre-condition to employment or volunteer opportunities, educational programs and placements, access to housing, or the right to travel.

Non-conviction records can be created as a result of a wide variety of scenarios including:

• occurrence reports and police contact information, including 911 and crisis calls, allegations that did not result in charges, suicide attempts, and mental health–related apprehensions;
• mental health dispositions including absolute and conditional discharges, verdicts of not criminally responsible, and withdrawn or dismissed charges;
• outstanding charges, warrants, judicial orders;
• peace bonds, and probation and prohibition orders; and
• family court restraining orders.

Many are unaware of this disclosure practice and its harmful and discriminatory effects where for example, employers make judgments about potential applicants based on this information. Indeed, most discover that they have a non-conviction police record when they are rejected for a job position or turned away at the U.S. border.  Often these individuals are already highly marginalized and are disproportionally impacted by this issue.

Five years ago, health law and human rights legal experts came together to form the Police Records Check Coalition (PRCC) in order to raise awareness and call for change around this issue. Over 40 members joined the PRCC, which is  led by representatives from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario, the John Howard Society of Ontario, the Ontario Association of Patient Councils, Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office, and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

Recognizing Legal Rights and Protections

The mission of the PRCC is to end the discriminatory and stigmatizing practice of requesting, releasing and making decisions based on non-conviction information, in particular mental health and addictions-related information.  The PRCC does this by educating individuals, families, stakeholders, agencies and police services regarding the impact of the release of non-conviction information as well as being allies, supporters and informants to those who have been impacted by this issue.

PRCC advocacy has increased awareness and helped to change provincial policy.  In 2011, Ontario’s first province-wide Guideline for Police Record Checks was developed by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Polices (OACP) Law Enforcement and Records (Management) Network (LEARN) with input from the PRCC and other community organizations. This Guideline sets limitations on the use and disclosure of mental health information which police officers collect by narrowing the conditions under which such information can be disclosed. While local and provincial police services across Ontario have the option to endorse or adopt the LEARN Guideline, over 80% report partial or full compliance.

Since then, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has been working with the OACP to institute broader changes to the way non-conviction records are dealt with.  Earlier this year the OACP Executive approved a motion to change the way it shares non-conviction records in order to “institute a presumption against the release of non-conviction records on all levels of police checks.” This means police services will be encouraged to limit the release of non-conviction records regardless of the level of police check. The updated LEARN Guideline will be released in June 2014. The presumptive non-disclosure of all non-conviction records from all levels of police checks will have a narrow public safety exception to allow for the release of records where there is a risk to the safety of vulnerable members of the public.  The PRCC was actively engaged in raising awareness about this issue, and making submissions to the OACP LEARN subcommittee. The PRCC will continue to monitor the changes and subsequent adoption of the revised guidelines.

Shining the spotlight on the cross-border disclosure of mental health information

Most recently, the PRCC has taken an active role in challenging the concerning practice of cross-border discrimination. As a result of the Ellen Richardson case, a woman who was denied entry into the United States by U.S. border officials because of a past suicide attempt, Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner launched an investigation into this issue and released a report titled “Crossing the Line: The Indiscriminate Disclosure of Attempted Suicide Information to U.S. Border Officials via CPIC” in April 2014. This report is an important first step in looking at the variations between police services in Ontario and how they upload and share information. However, more work is needed to address the full range of police scenarios in which they come into contact with individuals in order to ensure Ontarians’ privacy is respected and that unproven allegations and mental health issues are not treated as crimes.

B.C.’s Information and Privacy Commissioner also released a report on the “Use of Police Information Checks in British Columbia” calling for police forces to stop disclosing non-conviction information as part of employment-related records checks outside the vulnerable sector.  This includes mental health information which the Commissioner says “should never be included in an employment-related record check… [as it] threatens to further stigmatize the one in five of us who are affected by a mental health issue.”

Looking Ahead

Overall, there has been increased provincial and national attention to this issue in the last several years.  Still,  more work is needed to ensure that all non-conviction records are removed from police record checks and that Canadians do not face unjustifiable barriers when trying to obtain employment, volunteer positions, housing, travel, or education. The PRCC will continue to address this important issue with support and input from our stakeholders.

New members to the PRCC are always welcome. If you are interested in this important issue and would like to join the PRCC or subscribe to our mailing list, please email us at prcc@mentalhealthpolicerecords.ca.

To read the PRCC’s Advocacy Guide to Cross-Border Mental Health Records, click here.

For more information, please contact one of the co-chairs of the PRCC:

Abby Deshman
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
adeshman@ccla.org

Theresa Claxton
Ontario Association of Patient Councils
theresa.claxton@sympatico.ca

Dorina Simeonov
Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
dsimeonov@ontario.cmha.ca

Irina Sytcheva
Schizophrenia Society of Ontario
isytcheva@schizophrenia.on.ca

Jacqueline Tasca
John Howard Society of Ontario
jtasca@johnhoward.on.ca

www.mentalhealthpolicerecords.ca

Twitter: @PRCC_Ontario

 

Dorina Simeonov is Policy Analyst for Justice at Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario.