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Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia
By Nicole Zummach
September 24, 2007
VANCOUVER, BC // The Beatles once told us that we could get by with a little help from our friends. Perhaps it was this sentiment that inspired an ambitious group of people to start a crisis centre in Vancouver in 1969. Back then, they would drive around picking up people who looked like they could use a little help. The approach seems almost quaint today, but their efforts evolved into what is now known as the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia, an award-winning organization that provides support and services to thousands of BC residents every year.
Although they no longer actively seek out people in need - their 24-hour distress line takes care of that - the organization is always looking for new and innovative ways to reach out to those who need a little more than help from friends to get by. Executive director Ian Ross spoke with CharityVillage about the centre's grassroots beginnings, its proactive approach to suicide prevention, its sought-after volunteer training program, and what they have learned as a two-time Donner Award winner in the category of crisis intervention.
CharityVillage: When the crisis centre was founded in 1969 it was very much a grassroots endeavour. How have things evolved since that time?

Ian Ross: Our founders were really pioneers in rescuing people. They would actually go and find people. These were the heady days of the late sixties, so there were these people who were coming to BC, wandering around, and of course getting high was a big thing going on then. So a couple people got together and said, 'There are people in crisis. We'll set up a crisis centre.' It was built on the Good Samaritan model, which actually comes out of England. It was non-judgmental, free, confidential support, and that is one thing that remains 38 years later. It is the basis of what we do.
In the first five years, people would actually bring people back [to the centre]. It was almost like a drop-in place and people would be able to crash overnight and try to get their head together and that sort of thing. Actually, Mike Harcourt was involved as a young lawyer way back, and a couple people started thinking, 'Boy, there is a bit of liability here. We better be careful of what we are doing.' Soon they realized that phone support was the key piece and that is where we really started to have our crisis line and got away from seeing people one-on-one.
The next big change in the history of the centre came after there was a suicide by a teenager in the Lower Mainland. They found out after the person had died that he had really reached out and done a lot of work trying to let people know that he was in trouble, but nobody picked up on the symptoms. So back in about 1985, in response to that suicide, we started our School Base program. We have two main programs; one is the 24-hour distress line, and the other is doing suicide prevention and stress management workshops. We do that in about 400 classrooms a year. And we've just come out with a new video, called Reaching Out, that is part of a youth-based suicide prevention program that not only connects with students, but also connects with teachers, counsellors, and parents. So that's the newest piece that is just being launched in September.
CV: Who actually handles the calls to your distress line?

IR: We have 260 well-trained volunteers on the front line, but right behind them and supporting them all the way are professionals. About 70% of the calls that come in do not need a further referral. So what that means is that people just need a good listener to listen to them. And a lot of people will actually address their issues or problems or anxiety just by talking. Some people obviously don't. Eight percent of our calls are suicide related, which means 92% of our calls are from people who are just having a really frustrating time; they're stuck, they're angry, lonely, depressed.
We've got people picking up the phone and talking to them who are not being paid to do that work. These are people who are simply there to offer their support. You really have to stop trying to fix people. You have to suspend your judgment, be a good listener, and then offer options. That's our model. It takes a certain kind of special person to be able to volunteer at a crisis centre.
CV: It seems like it would be a very trying experience? How do you attract and retain your volunteer team?

IR: We have the reputation of having this unbelievable training program. People actually pay $120 to take our seventy-five hours of training. Then they commit to 200 hours of volunteering in a twelve-month period, and we have a 95% success rate of those people following through. About a third of our volunteers are students trying to get into grad school, etc. - people who need the reference at the end of the commitment, so that helps. We've also got people who have been here ten years, five years, three years. But the main group of people coming through, especially the busy students, will probably do an 18-month to two-year commitment.
We are able to support the volunteers and they are not left hanging. We have really good systems in place. People who are rookies are monitored; they are not alone. There is always somebody right there. Obviously we don't take the phone away from the rookie volunteer, but we will pass them notes to say 'you're doing a good job' or if they are stuck, 'try this suggestion.' But a lot of it is just the art of being a good listener, and also reflecting on where the person is at, and then in the end offering them options if they need it.
CV: Given the anonymous nature of the service you provide, how are you able to measure outcomes?

IR: Well, you have to try, and we do have outcome measures. We do pre-tests and post-tests in our high school workshops. With our distress line, we ask people, 'Can we phone you back in a week? Can we phone you back in a month?' Some people say yes and that way we can get back to that person and also ask them how our service was and how it could be improved. Our job as managers in the organization is to manage for improved performance, and the only way you can do that is to ask people what worked and what didn't. And when you look at the statistics, with 70% of the calls coming in on our distress line, the person phoning in is satisfied with not getting another referral.
The other thing is that you have to remain relevant. We have a 38-year history. We can't just sit back and think, 'aren't we great.' So in the last four years we have looked at a whole new way of communication. We started realizing that young males, in particular, were not phoning our distress line and weren't getting help, and yet they were having trouble. So we started a web-based hotline for youth. It is a web chat, one-on-one with volunteers, that operates ten hours a day, seven days a week. That is one of the tools that makes us more relevant for young people.
CV: What challenges are you facing right now?

IR: Our challenges right now are financial ones, relating to how fast we can grow and keep up with the demand. That is the issue. About 25% of our budget is from government, another chunk comes from gaming, and then we probably raise about 60% of our budget from foundations, direct mail campaigns, individual donations, corporations, that sort of thing.
The other thing is that we don't have really high salaries, so one of the challenges is that you can keep people for three years, but you can't keep them any longer because a lot of people come and will offer $20,000 for our staff, more than we can really afford. So that's a challenge, but it's also part of the deal of being a nonprofit in the vanguard, and trying to do some new things.
CV: You've received the Donner Award twice, and have been a finalist several times. What advice would you give to other organizations trying to achieve excellence?

IR: I think you have to try to improve what you are doing, and you somehow have to come up with outcomes - even if they are not perfect - that give you at least an indication. Then you build on that. After a while, you, in fact, are managing for improved performance and you actually have outcomes, not just outputs. You know the output idea, where you've seen 24,000 people this year. But the outcome is that you affected the lives of 10,000 of those 24,000 people in a really positive way, and you can prove it. That's difficult, but the thing is, you have to try.
Ian Ross is executive director of the Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia. He has worked in the nonprofit sector for the past twenty-five years.

To learn more about the Donner Awards, visit: www.donnerawards.org.